True Colors
by Cerebrate
Summary: A normal picnic day becomes a huge adventure in the Dark Ocean when both Davis and Kari are taken captive. How will the other digidestined ever find a way in to rescue them from the power hungry Dragomon and his minions?
1. Thoughts

Disclaimer: 

I do not own Digimon.

Author's Note: 

Hurray! I have finally managed to post this story up! After finishing this story about last year, I was too lazy to post it. My computer also got rebooted again and I don't know why. This is the first of an undecided amount of chapters. Oh yeah, there's a bit of Daikari/Hisuke in this. Flame me if you wish to but I don't know why you bother to read this if your going to flame me because it's Daikari. Well, enough of my rambling…enjoy!

TRUE COLORS

Chapter One: Thoughts

By: UNKNOWN

            It was dark and gloomy outside. The rain splattered loudly on the window as Davis Motomiya watched from inside his apartment building. It was cold and he didn't feel like going to school anymore. 

            "Davis! Mom says if you don't hurry up you'll be late!"

Davis grumbled and jumped off his bed. He grabbed his umbrella and raincoat and walked downstairs. 

            "Bye!" he yelled as he ran out the door.

            He opened up his umbrella as he got outside. It was cold and the wind was howling in his ears. He started to run as the rain started to come down harder. 

            Finally he reached the warmth of his Algebra class. He took his usual seat next to T.K. and sighed. Algebra was his most hated class. _I'm probably flunking again_ he thought sadly. 

            "Okay class, today you'll learn to graph parabolas!" the teacher said cheerfully.

            Everyone groaned and booed. Davis started to take notes as the teacher continued babble. A few minutes later, Kari (Who was seated next to T.K) and T.K. glanced at Davis as he began to snore. T.K. glanced at Davis's notes, which was just a bunch of scribbles and other markings.

            The bell rang for next period and Davis awoke with a start. He hadn't realized he had fallen asleep on his notebook, which the pencil marking was now all smeared onto his face. He continued onto Science, then Physical Education without knowing. On his way to the drinking fountain to drink and wash the smear, he caught sight of T.K. and Kari in Social Studies class talking to each other (Which seemed like flirting to Davis).

            Davis felt his face redden, and his stomach felt like it was turning inside out. They had known each other longer than Davis had known them, so he thought he wouldn't have felt jealous. Every muscle in his body ached, and his head was spinning. He walked back to the P.E. building, which was now free play. He sat alone at the building. _Maybe…maybe it's time that I gave up. Anything that I have, T.K. has better. Anything that I do, T.K. does better. He's smarter than me, and has a longer relationship with Kari. He's hope and I'm courage. Light and courage don't go together! _Davis nodded. 

            "What are you doing Davis?" a raspy voice asked.

            "Nothing that you need to know," Davis grumbled.

            "I see…its lunch time you know," the boy replied.

            Davis looked up. It was Cody. Davis got up and went into the locker room. After he changed, he came back out and ate a bag of chips. His friends were asking him to play soccer…Davis refused. He needed time alone to think more.

            He walked over to a shady tree and sat. Over to his right side, he saw Cody talking to Ken and Kari. Then Cody pointed to Davis's direction. _Great. I wonder what the heck Cody is telling them...?_ Davis saw Ken jogging over to him while Cody and Kari watched. Yolei was practicing chemistry, as Davis could see through the building window, and it seemed like her experiment was going to explode…  

            Ken walked over to Davis and waved his hand in front of his blank eyes. Nothing. Davis was in some sort of trance. Ken looked where Davis was looking and ended up looking at a pole. _Davis must be practicing his psychic powers…_Ken thought. He grinned and poked Davis. 

            "Stop it…" Davis groaned. He looked over his shoulder. "What do you want?" he asked, yawning.

            "The rest of us are going to the digital world in the afternoon…you coming?"

            Davis sat up and yawned again. "Sure, why not?"

            After school, everyone was waiting patiently for Davis. Cody and Ken were arm wrestling, Yolei was staring at a blank television screen, T.K. was playing paint on the computer, and Kari was looking out the window. 

            " Oh! I see Davis! It looks like he was playing soccer because he's all covered in mud." Kari said thoughtfully.

            "Well he better hurry, because I'm getting tired of waiting for him." Yolei said.

            A few more minutes passed. Cody beat Ken in arm wrestling and T.K. was still dragging the mouse back in forth. Finally Davis appeared in the doorway. 

            "Well…what's your excuse this time?" Yolei asked. 

            "…Don't have one. Can we go now? I'm covered in mud." Davis replied.

            Yolei sighed and pointed her digivice at the screen. It beeped a few times and Yolei shouted for the portal to open. T.K. screamed because he was still seated in front of the computer, while Ken, Cody, and Kari ran for the portal. A white light filled the room and when it settled, the digidestined were gone.

             The digidestined arrived at the plains of the Digital World. Davis assumed that the reason they were here was to track down Arukenimon. At least the mud on his face was gone, and it wasn't irritating him anymore. After looking for a while, they found their Digimon partners hanging around at Gotsumon town. The group got together with their DNA partners and set off.

            As Ken rode on Stingmon, he noticed Davis looking a bit gloomy. 

            "You all right Davis?" Ken asked.

            Davis nodded and they continued on searching for Arukenimon and Mummymon's whereabouts. 

            Ken looked at Davis again and shrugged. Something seemed wrong with Davis. It was wrong that he wasn't talking and boasting about his soccer game Kari said he was playing before they arrived at the Digital World. 

            Davis was still thinking to himself while riding on Exveemon. He wasn't even looking for signs of Arukenimon and Mummymon. He thought back to the past, when he first became a digidestined. _I rescued her from that digimon with the dark ring. She said T.K. had saved her before when Patamon became…Magnaangemon? I should just let her go. She was never meant for me anyway. Besides…being with T.K. would probably make her happier than being with me…_

            "Davis! Look out!"

            Davis's head jerked up as Exveemon swerved upwards. Davis looked below him and saw a group of red bands flailing in the air. None of the two could tell where it came from so they began to shoot wildly. Stingmon slashed at a tree and when it split, Arukenimon and Mummymon were seen crouching. They seemed taken aback and began to run. Exveemon kept shooting until they were out of sight.

            Ken took out his D-Terminal and began typing something to the rest of the group. 

            "What are you typing?" Davis asked.

            "I'm telling them to meet back at the plains to go back to the real world." Ken said.

            "Already?"

            "Yes."

            Davis grunted and climbed onto Exveemon again. When Ken got onto Stingmon, they flew away in the opposite direction of where Arukenimon and Mummymon ran.

            When they arrived back at the computer, everyone was already gathered around it. When Ken and Davis jumped off their digimon's back, gathered their de-digivolved forms and head back to the real world.

The next day at lunch, Ken called everyone but Davis together. 

            "What is it Ken?" T.K. asked.

            "Why didn't you call Davis?" Cody asked.

            Ken waved his hands and told them to shut their mouths. 

            "Have you noticed that Davis isn't acting…normal?" Ken asked. 

            "Yeah…come to think of it. He didn't look or talk to me at all today," Kari said.

            "He seems…kind of sad. Should we try to cheer him up or something?" 

            Everyone thought for a while. The only plan they had was the usual picnic day. They would have to tell their parents that they were camping again. 

            "All right then," T.K. said. "Lets go tomorrow at…noon."

            Everyone agreed and went off to their classes.

            From far away, Davis slumped against the shady tree. He had seen the digidestined talking to one another. He was eating another bag of chips as he looked around the playground. 

            After school, the digidestined went home and prepared for the next day's picnic at the Digital World. Davis went home and slumped into bed. He looked at the time. 9:00. He sighed and closed his eyes, thinking. _I can't believe I gave up on the girl I wanted all my life. How could I have given in so easily to T.K.? …I've already made my mind. Leave me alone stupid consciousness. Let me sleep…_

            The day of the planned picnic arrived and when Davis woke up, he found his D-Terminal beeping. _What is it now?_ He glanced at it and read the message. They were going to have a picnic in the digital world at noon. So that was probably what they were discussing yesterday…but why without him? _Probably planning to do something to me_ he thought miserably. Demiveemon popped out from under Davis's sheets.

            "Davis! Your bed has a weird smell and your snoring is too loud!" he complained.

            Davis grinned and shrugged. He was feeling a bit better now. He got on some new clothes and stuffed a bunch of food (and Demiveemon) into his backpack. He ran out of the door again before his parents could ask where he was going. He walked around for about thirty minutes until he saw Tai and Matt punching each other. 

            "Are you guys angry at each other or something?" Davis asked.

            Demiveemon popped out of his backpack and watched the two continue to punch each other. Finally Matt gave up and Tai took a sandwich from the stand behind them.

            "You guys were fighting for a sandwich?" Davis asked.

            Tai and Matt nodded and grinned. Tai however, did not notice Matt sneaking behind him. Matt poked Tai on the sides of his body and out came the chewed up sandwich. It landed near Davis's shoes with a splat. Tai stared, dumbfounded. Then his brain kicked into gear.

            "Hey! I won that sandwich fair and square!" Tai yelled.

            Matt shrugged. "If I can't get it, none of us get it." 

            Tai's fingers flexed. "I'm gonna kill you!" 

            Matt turned to face Tai. "Whoa!"

            Davis walked by them as the fight continued, but this time there was no prize. He looked at his watch and realized it was almost time to go to the Digital World. He ran the school and hopped the gate.

            When he reached the hallway, everyone was there. Ken seemed to have lost arm wrestling to Cody…and there were a bunch of bags on the floor. 

            "So…when are we leaving?" Davis asked.

            "We could go now," T.K. said looking at the clock.

            Everyone gathered around the computer and it sucked the digimon and the digidestined in, along with their bags full of food. 

            They landed out in the plains again, emerging from the same computer. 

            "Out of curiosity…is anyone covering for us?" T.K. asked.

            "Um…Tai, Matt, Izzy, and maybe Sora too," Yolei replied.

            "You don't seem too sure," Ken stated.

            Yolei told everybody to ignore what she said and search for a picnic spot. They reached a spot with a giant cut down tree in the center. There were a bunch of trees surrounding it and a black cave adjacent to the cut tree. 

            "Creepy," Kari said when she saw the cave.

            Davis looked in the cave. Looked like the blackness of hatred. 

Later, the group set up camp and began to feast. 

"Hey! We need to save some of that for tomorrow!" T.K. said.

After the meal, everyone went to sleep. Demiveemon crawled to Cody's sleeping bag to sleep and Davis's snoring plagued everyone's dreams like always.

The next morning, everyone seemed fresh and awake. Everybody slept well except T.K., who slept right next to Davis. His eyes were slowly drooping and he fell asleep immediately after Davis awoke. Yolei claimed that this day would be a fun day and that no one had to go with their DNA partners. Ken looked around nervously while Yolei automatically moved next to him. No one complained and they began to eat breakfast.

"We'll meet here after two hours to go back!" Yolei said as she grabbed a helpless Ken to wherever they were going. Cody wanted to stay with T.K., because T.K. really had no energy left. But T.K. disagreed and climbed onto Armadillomon. Patamon rested on T.K.s head.

"Well Davis, it's just me and you!" Kari said cheerfully.

_Is this their plan? To leave me with Kari or something…hmm…I kind of like it…_ Davis shook his head. Why couldn't he stop thinking of her? He knew (Or he thought he knew) that Kari had her eyes set on T.K. 

Davis sat on the stump. "Hey! Where are Veemon and Gatomon?"

They looked around frantically, but with no prevail. Davis sat on the stump again in disappointment. He looked down at it. _The edges look all jagged. I wonder what cut this tree down._ Kari glanced at him. Ken was right. Davis didn't seem to act like himself at all. She sat down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"You okay Davis?" she asked.

Davis nodded. Then he asked, " I wonder what cut this tree down."

Kari looked at the trunk. "Probably some digimon." 

Then Davis heard some buzzing noises in the air. He sighed.

"Are you trying to be a fly Kari?"

Kari grinned. "What are you talking about?"

"I meant that annoying buzzing noise."

Kari listened. "I hear it too."

"If it's not you then who or what is it?" he asked, clearly annoyed.

"Looks like those things," Kari pointed out.

Davis turned and screamed. He pulled Kari's hand and lifted her up. They began running around the trunk.

"Why are we running in circles?" Kari asked.

"Watch," Davis replied simply.

The things launched their stingers at Davis and Kari. It hit the edges of the trunk and cut a piece off. Davis looked close at the cut. _At least now I know what cut down this tree._

"We can't run like this forever!" Kari yelled to Davis.

"Try that cave! I don't think the…Flymon can fit in."

The two digidestined ran for cover and when they reached the cave jumped in and scooted backwards. The Flymon still shot, but Davis and Kari were out of sight. Finally the six Flymon tried to fly in at once and sent a shockwave at the cave entrance. The cave roof in the entrance broke off, forming a barricade that would be impossible for the two humans to dig through.__

_Where are Veemon and Gatomon? I hope Flymon won't get them…_Kari thought.

Davis seemed to worry about their digimon partners too, but he was more focused on trying to get out. He kicked and pushed but nothing happened. The rocks continued to fall outside until the cave was pitch black.

Story's is going on pretty nicely, eh? I'll probably post up the next chapter sometime in the next three weeks…if anyone cares. Notice how I only update this section of my stories. So don't bother looking anywhere else unless you want to see my grammar corrections. I got loads of homework and projects, but keep checking for the next chapter. It will bound to be here sooner or later! By the way, don't forget to review…


	2. Darkness

Disclaimer: 

I do not own Digimon.

Author's Note:

Well here it is: The second chapter of my story, which should have been finished a few months ago. I'm pretty sure you readers are all familiar with the story now. …If not, read Chapter One. Still a bit of Daikari/Hisuke in this story so don't say I didn't warn you. Flame if you wish, but please review!

TRUE COLORS

Chapter Two: Darkness

By: UNKNOWN

            Davis grunted and pushed. Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. Before him loomed a massive pile of rocks, blocking the main route out. Any other way out would require going to the back of the dark cave, which Davis did not want to do. Davis kicked a boulder and sat down next to Kari, who had been watching the entire time. Surprisingly, she smiled at him. Davis glanced at her then closed his eyes. _I knew it…it's happening again. Every time I look at her…her beautiful face and perfect features…what's wrong with me? Why can't I give up my feelings for her? _

            Kari observed Davis's face. He was in concentration… His eyebrows were furrowed so tightly that Kari could have sworn they could have mended together. There was an unusual silence for about five minutes. Kari glanced around nervously and Davis fidgeted with his fingers. 

            "So Kari…" Davis began, breaking the silence. "You want to start a fire?"

            Kari nodded and moved closer to watch. Davis grabbed a handful of twigs and leaves and dumped them in the center of the floor. He broke of a piece of wood protruding out of the wall and grabbed another stick. Kari handed him a rock as he forced a dent into the hard wood. After Davis assembled some more things onto the gadget, he managed to get a fire blazing. The flames danced in the dark and lit up the black cave. Kari could feel warmth spread through her body.

            Davis sat down again with a sigh. _I'm lucky that Jun forced me to watch that boy scouts video last time or I never would've survived._ Davis glanced over at Kari. She turned quickly away. Davis chuckled softly. He looked around at the cave floor. There wasn't much grass left to support their fire. Kari was fast asleep; her lean body curled up next to him. Her soft breaths filled the air, the only sound other then the crackling of the flames.

            Davis blanketed Kari with his jacket and put out the fire. He yawned and stretched as he leaned on the cave wall. He closed his eyes and was soon fast asleep.

            Light penetrated the rock wall and lit up the entrance of the cave, revealing two children sleeping on the rock floor. Davis stirred awake and groaned as he remembered the situation that they were in. Kari was still fast asleep, so Davis lay back down. _Maybe I should go look for an exit…_ Davis jumped up and ran off. He ran until he reached a fork in the cave. _Just great…these kind of things always happen in the movies. I better go back and wait for Kari to wake._ Another part of his body urged him to continue, but he repressed it. 

            Kari opened an eye to see Davis walk in from the gloom. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. 

            "Where have you been?" she asked sleepily.

            Even awoken from sleep, Kari still looked radiant. Her brown hair was disheveled and her eyelids half closed, but Davis didn't exactly care. 

            "I found a fork further down the cave. We need to decide which one to take."

            "Hmm…just like in the movies huh?" Kari replied.

            Davis and Kari walked down the cave until they reached the fork that Davis was describing. Both ends were pitch black and…hollow. No hints of life came from any direction. 

            "Go left I suppose?" Davis asked.

            Kari nodded. She glanced fleetingly at the right path. Something didn't feel right from there…she could feel the darkness and evil that hid somewhere down the right path. She could feel the darkness reaching out for her. They wanted her. The shadow things wanted her. Gliding across the floor, Kari could make them out. Black, eyeless, bloated creatures that emitted sad moans circled around her. They brushed up against her leg and threatened to take her down to the depths of their hellish world. Kari began to panic. _What are they doing?_ _What should I do…?_

            "Davis!" she cried.

            The shadow creatures vanished.

Davis walked calmly over to her trembling figure. He bit his lip as he knelt down next to her. 

"What's wrong Kari? Are you sick? We can rest if you want…"

Kari shook her head. 

"No…sorry Davis. It's nothing. Nothing at all."

Davis wasn't so sure. He crossed his arms and stared at her. Something wasn't right. He noticed her shaky legs and beads of sweat as she got up to her feet. Her eyes… they weren't as they were before. Once full of life and vivid, they were now dull and lifeless, as she had seen something horrible. Before he knew what he was happening, Kari walked over and gave him a hug.

"Davis…I was so scared. Those shadow things…lunging at me…trying to take me to their world."

Davis had no idea what she was talking about. He broke the hug and stood back. 

"Shadow things?"

The life in her eyes had returned, but they still hinted of something terrible and dark. What could it be…?

Davis and Kari walked in silence on the path that they chose, and hoped that it lead to the exit of the dark cave. Soon, the two had reached the end of the cave. It was a dead end. Davis's heart sank. Not only had they chose the wrong path, but they also needed to head back all the way to the fork now. Kari seemed to bee a trance and was shaking uncontrollably. 

            Davis walked over. Kari didn't seem to notice. She stared at the ceiling as tears rolled down her cheek. 

            "Kari! What's wrong?" Davis waved his hand in front of her face.

            Kari lowered her gaze to meet his. 

            "Please Davis…please don't take me to the right path…"

            Davis looked confused. 

            "Why? Is the right side some sort of bad luck or something to you? Come on cheer up! It's only an empty cave and if we take the right side, maybe we can get out!"

            Kari wiped her tears away. She sniffed and nodded.

            "You're right Davis. It's nothing to be…afraid about."

            She bit her lip. _Could all those creatures have been just my imagination? But they seemed so real…and I felt their rough and jagged skin brush against my leg…"_

"So Kari…are we leaving today or what?" Davis asked.

            Kari looked up at him, clearly hurt by his comment.

            Davis sighed. "I'm sorry Kari. But I really want to get out of this cave before we either dehydrate or starve to death. So can we go…now?"

            Kari nodded and began to walk after Davis.  

            Davis waited for her to catch up then started off in the opposite direction.

            As they approached the fork, Kari began to tremble again. Davis looked back. Her eyes seemed to slide out of focus and her knees bent together. Kari fell into Davis's outstretched arms. 

            "Kari! Wake up! What's happening?" Davis cried.

            Kari looked dazed. Then she gasped.

            "Huh? What's wrong now?" Davis asked. He was practically shrieking now, desperate to discover what was causing Kari's strange behaviors. 

            "It's…so cold…Davis," she whispered.

            Davis put her down on the floor beside him. He knelt down and was halfway through taking off his jacket when Kari spoke again.

            "Not that kind of coldness Davis. It's the coldness within me…I feel torn apart. The-" Kari was cut short.

            Once again, the shadow creatures appeared, slithering out from beneath the floor. Kari clenched her teeth and backed up. _Where is Davis? Why can't he see me?_ She looked around for an escape route, but none were in sight. The air was filled with fog and all she could see was white. 

            "Davis? Where are you?" she cried out.

            Suddenly, Davis materialized through the gloom. He looked all around himself and shouted.

            "What's happening? Where'd all this fog come from?"

            He took another step right before a black shadow flashed across his face and grabbed him. He disappeared.

            Kari narrowed her eyes. _What's going on? I knew Davis was here a few seconds ago, but where is he now?_

Kari walked around in the haze until she felt something brush against her leg. She screamed and looked down.

            "Oh…" she moaned.

            It was another one of the shadow creatures. Snickering, or whatever strange noise it was making, it lurched forward and grabbed Kari with surprising strength. The frail arms of the creature did not seem capable of lifting a heavy book, but this one was pulling a human child to itself. Kari screamed. She couldn't hold out any longer. Her foot slid across the wet cave floor and vanished, along with the fog. There was no trace of a struggle anywhere.

            Davis groaned groggily. _Where am I? Maybe that green stuff on the pizza really was mold…whatever it was, I feel sick._ Then, Kari popped out of thin air right beside him. 

            "What the-?" Davis stammered.

            Kari looked at him, her expression blank, then returned to looking out at the ever expanding ocean.

            _Ocean? When did that ocean get there? Where the hell am I?_

            "Kari- you don't seem surprised by being here, can you fill me in? I mean, where are we for starters, and how do we get out?"

            Kari's head drooped. 

            "Ken and I come here a lot. We still don't know what this place is. We've asked Izzy and he doesn't know either. Even T.K., who came here last time, has no clue to what place this might be."

            Davis sighed. "Oh boy…so you're telling me were not in the Digital World or our world right?"

            Kari nodded sadly.

            Davis rubbed his chin.

            "Well, do you and Ken at least have a name for this creepy place?"

            Kari gave him a sad look, one that pierced Davis to the heart. Her eyes lowered down to the sand that they stood upon. 

            "The Dark Ocean." 

            So here ends Chapter Two. The location of the other digidestined, and the whereabouts of Veemon and Gatomon will be told in Chapter Three. I'm planning for a great ending on this story, so don't miss out on it! By the way, I'm sorry that this chapter was so short. I've been putting a lot of effort into this as quickly as I can, whenever I have the time. Don't forget to review, and check back once in a while. I just might have the next chapter up…  

               


	3. The Culling

Disclaimer: 

I do not own Digimon.

Author's Note:

I'm glad that people are enjoying this story. Thanks to the reviewers for giving this story such great reviews. I am motivated to continue this story until the end, but I still need reviews to see if there's anything I can add to the next chapters. Got a lot of projects, but hopefully they will lessen as the year goes on. Expect about three more chapters before I move on to another story. (I'm rambling again aren't I?)Also, note that I have changed the rating. The language content will begin to contain some profanity in the later chapters. I hope I have not discouraged anyone from continuing to read. Don't worry, I will not fill up half the story with profanity and create a pointless story. Again, some Daikari in here but also with a minute bit of Kensuke. Anyway, here is the third chapter…

TRUE COLORS

Chapter Three: The Culling

By: UNKNOWN

            Veemon shuffled his feet as he walked through the rough dirt. Gatomon glanced at the blue creature, who did not seem to be in a good mood…

            "What's wrong with you today Veemon?" Gatomon asked.

            Veemon turned to face her.

            "Nothing's wrong with me…except…except…" He trailed off.

            Gatomon stared at him.

            "You can't expect me to help you if you can't even tell me what you're worrying about."

            Veemon sighed. The wind blew in his ears and gray clouds began forming overhead, blocking out the bright sun. _Looks like it's_ a_bout to rain…_Veemon thought. Gatomon tapped Veemon on the shoulder.

            "Well? What's wrong?" she pressed.

            "It's just that…I'm worried about the Digital World. So many things are happening to it. First, there's Arukenimon and Mummymon trying to rip it apart from the inside. Next, there's Blackwargreymon, whose location we don't even know, who's trying to destroy the Destiny Stones. Then there are all those other locations which are so… dark, like the Dark Whirlpool."

            Gatomon thought hard. "Or the Dark Ocean."

            Veemon nodded. "Yeah, that place sounds creepy just by the name."

            The cat-like digimon turned back to face the mountains in the horizon, whose peaks jutted up like jagged teeth. 

            "I almost lost Kari there once. I tried to save her…but I couldn't. Luckily, T.K. had managed to find a way in and rescued her."

            "So what's it like in there?"

            Gatomon faced Veemon. "I don't think you want to know."

            The duo walked around for another ten minutes. Veemon felt a trickle of water hit his nose. He looked up. The sky had turned completely gray and rain was falling. 

            Gatomon fussed. "I hate it when my fur gets wet!"

            Veemon started to run. 

            "Where are you going?" Gatomon asked.

            "Remember that cave by picnic area? We can take shelter in there until the storm settles."

            Gatomon shrugged, and ran after Veemon.

            "Ken! It's starting to rain!" Stingmon cried.

            Ken could feel the rain dropping onto his shirt. The coldness penetrated deep down into him. He shivered. Behind him, Yolei groaned. 

            "My glasses are fogging up! Acquilamon, is there anywhere you can take us?"

            Acquilamon squinted in the pouring rain.

            "I can't see any place to shelter us in…in fact, I can't see at all!"

            Ken clenched his teeth. Stingmon would fall if his wings got any wetter.

            "Stingmon! You'd better land…under that tree!"

            Stingmon flew down to the giant tree, followed by Acquilamon.

            "What a way to spend a free day at the digital world," Yolei grumbled.

            Ken sat at the trunk of the tree. The tree provided at least some protection from the rain. He watched the raindrops fall, a clear-like color. He gazed for a moment longer, then gasped.

            Yolei, Hawkmon, and Wormmon ran over to him. 

            "Ken? Ken? Is something wrong?" Wormmon asked.

            "No…nothing…Ah…" he said.

            He looked up once again at the raindrops. The raindrops were black.

            "No…No!" he cried.

            "Ken, what is it? Let us help you!" Yolei urged.

            She bent down and reached for him. Her hand passed right through him.

            "I don't believe it…" she whispered.

            Wormmon cried. "Ken! Answer me!"

            Hawkmon fluttered about in the air. "It seems that Ken is in some sort of trance," he said with deep concern in his voice.

            "Ken!" Yolei yelled.

            Ken did not answer. He stared up at the sky and continued to shake. His eyes were transfixed on something no one else could see. _I can't be taken there…not with all those horrible memories! No! Don't take me!_

Yolei had enough of Ken's ignorance of their attempts to help him. She raised her hand as to slap him. 

            Hawkmon groaned. "You really should take anger control classes Yolei."

            Her hand swept through the air with blinding speed. Within seconds, her hand connected with…the tree trunk. She yelped in pain and jumped back. Wormmon and Hawkmon glanced around nervously.

            Ken was gone.

            Davis sat down on the soft sand. He surveyed the landscape before him, and sighed. _Now I know why this place is called the Dark Ocean. It seems…so out of focus and dried of color. Everything looks normal, but I can sense that something's wrong here…_

            Kari looked out at the waters. The waves silently moved up and down the coastline, creating mud on the once rocky sand. Davis was picking at his shoes and Ken was… _Ken? When did Ken get here?_

            "Ken!" Kari shouted.

            Davis turned around. "Hey! How in the world did you get here?"

            Ken ran up to them, clearly pleased that he was not the only person in the Dark Ocean.

            "I was sitting by a tree with Yolei, when the raindrops suddenly turned black. I knew that the Dark Ocean was calling for me. I was too weak to resist its call…"

            "Oh Ken," Kari said, "You're not weak. No one can even explain what takes us here, but I doubt it has anything to do with our physical strength."

            Ken shook his head. "I don't think so. You're partially correct though Kari. I don't think that the Dark Ocean feeds on our physical strength but upon our mental strength instead. I was talking about my will being too weak to prevent my teleportation here." 

            He sighed and gazed off to the ocean. "I've done too many things in my past, things I can't even bring to mind. My will was shattered the day my reign as the Digimon Emperor ended. When you told me the truth behind the digimon. You told me that they weren't just plain pieces of computer data and textures, but were real living things that could feel joy, pain, and sorrow… I couldn't handle all that information at once."

            Davis stood up. "You have pretty low expectations of yourself Ken. Get yourself together! Your days as being the Digimon Emperor are over! We've all forgiven you! And it doesn't matter if you're will is weak. You've got a good heart and determination Ken, and I'm sure that they will see you through all your troubles!"

            Ken's solemn face broke into a grin. 

            "Thanks Davis."

            "No problemo!"

            The trio began to walk across the bare beach, Ken taking the lead and Davis in the back. Unknowingly, they were being watched from the cliffs above…

            T.K. awoke as he felt a drop of rain splash onto his nose. Cody sat atop on Ankylomon's shoulders and seemed to be sleeping. T.K., still half asleep, poked Cody on the shoulder. Cody grunted.

            "Where are we Cody?" T.K. murmured.

            Cody shrugged then tapped Ankylomon on the head. Cody whispered in his ears and replied," Close to our original camping area."

            Patamon peeped out from under T.K.'s hat.

            "Did anything exciting happen? I'd hate to miss out…"

            "Nah, go back to sleep Patamon. Cody will e-mail the others soon so we can go back and eat some sushi!"

            Patamon scrunched his nose.

            "Sushi has a disgusting taste to it. I think ice cream is better."

            Ankylomon rolled his eyes.

"I didn't say that you had to eat sushi too, you know."

            T.K. sat up and looked around. Cody seemed to have fallen asleep again so T.K. decided that he'd better e-mail the others instead. He whipped out his D-Terminal from his pocket and began typing. The rain began to drip harder as T.K.'s hat drooped. Patamon emerged from under the hat again.

            "T.K.! Your hat is getting all wet! It's getting real cold in here!"

            T.K. laughed. "Well, now you know how we feel!"

            The gray clouds soon covered the sun and rain began to pour. Ankylomon trudged over to an oversized mushroom.

            "This should keep us dry until the rain stops," Ankylomon said.

            Cody and T.K. jumped off the digimon's hard shell. Thunder clapped nearby and sent a brilliant flash of light through the dark sky. T.K. and Cody fell silent. Ankylomon returned to his rookie stage, Armadillomon, and crawled to sleep next to Cody.  

            Yolei paced back and forth in front of the giant tree. _How could Ken suddenly have just disappeared?_ She thought hard. Then she thought of it. _This had happened before…when I was taken to the Dark Ocean with Ken and Kari. I suppose we vanished because Davis couldn't see me, and Veemon passed right through…Hawkmon._ She sank to her knees. Wormmon and Hawkmon ran over to her.

            She looked up at them. "I think I know where Ken is."

            Wormmon seemed extremely eager. "Where?"

            Yolei thought about her conclusion before telling Wormmon and Hawkmon.

            "I'm pretty sure that he was taken to the D-" she began.

            Her D-Terminal suddenly began to beep. Yolei froze, and then dove for her backpack. She opened it and took out her D-Terminal.

            "Who is it from Yolei?" Hawkmon asked.

            "I can't really tell…the rain is still fogging up my glasses." 

            She squinted at the pixilated letters on the screen. Her head lifted.

            "It's from T.K. He says that Cody and him are taking shelter under a giant mushroom. According to Patamon, it should be pretty easy to spot it."

            She typed a message back and then put the D-Terminal away. 

            "Come on Hawkmon! Let's get going!"

            Veemon and Gatomon gasped as they reached their picnic site. The rain continued to pour. Gatomon's fur was wet and she was cranky. Veemon was blinded by the amount of rain. Gatomon growled.

            "The cave's entrance is blocked! There are a whole bunch of rocks blocking the way in!" 

            Veemon groaned. He began to run in another direction.

            Gatomon chased after him. "You have no idea where you're going do you?"

            "Nope. I just hope that I'm going the right way!"

            Veemon and Gatomon began running up a steep hill. Veemon reached the top, then tripped on a rock and slid back to the bottom.

            Gatomon sighed. "If I knew any better, I'd swear that Veemon and Davis shared the same mind."

            Gatomon could hear Veemon groaning in the distance.

            "Need help?" Gatomon yelled.

            "I'm fine!' came the response. 

Gatomon reached the top and looked down for a few seconds. She could make out Veemon's figure. As soon as Veemon reached the top, she grabbed his hand and yanked him. They continued running until they spotted a mass of giant mushrooms. Together, they slid down the hill and raced towards the mushrooms.

            As soon as they reached the mushroom, Veemon began to turn a sickly green color. Gatomon looked on as he turned black, then pale. 

            "Is something wrong Veemon?" she asked.

            Veemon could do nothing by shake his head. He clasped his throat and coughed. Gatomon watched a little longer, then turned the other way. She looked around them and then saw what seemed to be a rock under one of the other mushrooms. She squinted. It was impossible to see through the rain. Though dark and gloomy, Gatomon managed to make out Patamon's outline.

            'Veemon! It's T.K.!" Gatomon cried.

            "Huh?" Veemon asked.

            Once again, poor Veemon was yanked by the hand and pulled across the field. As Gatomon neared the mushroom, she could make out Cody and Armadillomon's figure as well. The dark sky stirred and threw a bolt of lighting down. The bolt struck Gatomon and Veemon's former mushroom, and blew it to pieces. Gatomon glanced back as Veemon collapsed.

            "Hey Gatomon, Veemon!" Patamon greeted.

            They all sat down again and waited for the storm to settle.

            Soon enough, they heard wings flapping over the area and faint voices arguing. T.K. peeked up from under the mushroom. 

            "Let me guess, it's Yolei," Patamon said.

            T.K. nodded. "I don't think she can see us. Patamon, I think you'd better digivolve."

            Patamon glowed a deep yellow. His figure expanded and elongated. Soon, Angemon was standing where Patamon once was.

            "Send up a beam of light for them to see!" T.K. said.

            Yolei squinted. Today was definitely not a good day._ I'm wet, my glasses are so fogged that everything is gray, Ken is gone, and I can't find T.K. or Cody._ Suddenly, a beam of yellow light erupted from somewhere underneath Acquilamon. Acquilamon swerved as Yolei and Wormmon screamed.

            "Acquilamon! Land down where you saw the light come from!" Yolei shouted.

            The wind grew heavier as Acquilamon began his descent. He wavered and rocked, but his wings did not give in. Finally, his feet clutched the grass floor and let the passengers off.

            T.K. and Cody ran to the edge of the mushroom. 

            "Yolei! Over here!" 

            Yolei gathered up Hawkmon and Wormmon and ran over to the mushroom. Under it, she observed Armidillomon, Veemon, and Gatomon sleeping. 

            "Where are Kari and Davis?" Yolei asked.

            "Where's Ken?" T.K. asked.

            Wormmon butted in. "Yolei thinks that Ken was taken to the Dark Ocean."

            T.K. yelled. "But how? He disappeared right before your eyes?"

            Yolei nodded. T.K. and Cody glanced at each other.

            "Yolei looked around. "So where are Kari and Davis?"

            T.K. shrugged. I e-mailed them about ten minutes ago, but I haven't received a response yet."

            "Looks like our plan worked well. Too well, if you ask me," Yolei remarked.

            T.K. sighed. "We're in the middle of a devastating storm and all you can think about is if our plan worked to cheer Davis up? For all I know, they could be hiding under a tree, or separated…"

            Yolei sat next to Armadillomon. "Yeah, I know. But there's nothing else to talk about."

            Soon, everyone under the giant mushroom was asleep, listening to the rain pound on the dirt, and the thunder booming in the distance.

            Meanwhile, at the camp in the real world, Tai, Matt, and Sora were feasting upon their dinner. Izzy sat a bit to the side, trying to concentrate on his laptop. 

            "Izzy, give the computer a break will you? If you keep getting distracted by the computer, you'll starve to death before we leave this place!"

            Izzy nodded. "Yeah, hold up. Let me check this thing out first…"

            Matt gulped down a can of soda, then walked over to Izzy. He glanced over Izzy's shoulder and watched as Izzy typed furiously. 

            "What on earth are you doing?" Matt asked.

            "I'm trying to see if I can get a hold of the guys in the Digital World…Here we go!"

            Tai and Sora rose from the table and positioned themselves behind Izzy as well.

            Izzy typed and then sat back. Tai was confounded. He scratched his bushy hair.

            "I still have no idea to as what you're doing Izzy."

            Izzy replied, "It's simple. I'm basically downloading some of the Digital World's data so I can use my computer to communicate with their D-Terminals."

            "Ah, see that? Yolei just answered!"

            "I'm not that stupid Izzy. I think I can see that a window with text just popped up."

            "What does it say?" Sora asked.

            Izzy returned his attention to the laptop. 

            "Yolei says that she, T.K., and Cody, along with the digimon, are taking shelter from a storm under a mushroom. She also mentions that Ken was taken to the…Dark Ocean and that no one has a clue to where Kari and Davis are."

            Tai slammed his fist on the wooden table. 

            "How can she not know where Kari is? Who was watching her?"

            "Calm down Tai," Sora soothed. 

            "Yeah, " Matt growled. "They could be taking shelter too you know. It doesn't mean that they're lost. Just wait for the storm to pass and they should be able to find each other."

            "What about Ken? What is the Dark O-" Tai began. Then he thought back. _The Dark Ocean. Isn't that the place that Kari was taken to last time? I forgot how she was able to come back…_

            Izzy stared at the computer. He shut it off and then sat over at the tables to help himself to some hot dogs. 

            "Izzy…what about Ken?" Sora asked.

            "I'm pretty sure that he'll be able to find a way out. After all, he was the Digimon Emperor once…"

            "…You still don't trust him do you?" Matt asked.

            Izzy stayed silent as he chewed on a piece of cold bread.

            Ken glanced behind him as he quickened his pace. He didn't know where they were going, but he wanted to get out as soon as he could. He felt defenseless, probably because Wormmon was not there to protect him. Kari looked crestfallen as they walked, while Davis maintained a moderate expression. _How are we going to get out of here?_ Ken thought. He thought hard. The wind ruffled his hair and irritated his ears. 

            Davis meanwhile, trailed behind Kari and Ken. _This place is creepy…what kind of idiot created a place as gloomy as this? _From above, he heard a crackling noise. Out of the shadows jumped a shadow thing. _Like the one I saw in the cave! _Ken and Kari turned and rushed over to Davis's side.

            The shadow thing looked like a Scubamon, but was much flatter. The creature had eyes after all, but they were so black they seemed to camouflage with their dark skin. The claws were elongated and it seemed to glide above the ground. The sand swept up in a whirl and blinded Davis. Davis put on his goggles and tried to see. He could make out the form of the shadow thing running towards him. Davis lunged. He held his fist in front of him and threw it forward. His punch missed and he ended up with claws in his face. His goggles snapped and the glass shattered. Davis took a step backwards, his nose leaking blood.

            The shadow thing approached Kari and Ken, who were dragging Davis along with them. He looked from Kari, then to Ken. 

            "Ah…the child of light and her opposite," it said in a raspy voice as its gaze shifted back and forth. 

            Ken took a step forward. The shadow creature spun and its tail knocked Ken back six feet. He landed with a groan and slumped against the cliff wall.

            The shadow creature took a step towards Kari. 

            "My master has been waiting for a long time now…" it whispered.

            Kari slowly retreated, then tripped on a tree root. "Get away from me!" she yelled.

            The shadow creature laughed. "Who's going to make me? You're defenseless! Two of your comrades are knocked out! What chance do you think you stand?"

            The cold, clammy hands of the creature clasped about her shoulders and tightened. Kari began to yell out loud, and the creature hit her across the cheek.

            "Silence you pathetic human! Must you wail so loudly? Can't you see that there is no one here to help you?"

            Kari gritted her teeth. "Not true! Ken and Davis are here to help me. They're my friends! They would never abandon me!"

            As she spoke, she began to glow. The brightness flowed from deep within her and rushed out from her body. Kari began to shake, her body focusing the energy towards the shadow creature. Ken and Davis sat up unexpectedly. Davis looked up at Kari. _Is Kari…glowing? She looks like an angel like that…_ Ken stood up and ran over to Davis. 

            "Davis! What is happening to her?" Ken asked.

            "I have no idea." Davis responded.

            The shadow creature's eyes narrowed. 

            "So…the child of light does know how to use her powers…"

            It tossed Kari towards the cliff wall, but she barely flew a few feet away from the creature itself. Kari's hair fluttered and she fixed her gaze on the shadow creature. A burst of light threw itself out of Kari and swept through the creature's body. The shadow creature moaned and landed a few feet away, dead. Gray blood spurted as it slowly deleted, piece by piece.

            Suddenly, a rift opened right where the shadow creature had died. Through it, they could see the Digital World.

            "Come one guys, let's go!" Ken yelled cheerfully. 

            Ken waited for Davis to scoop up the limp Kari, then turned back to the rift. _No…the rift is closing! Only a few more seconds before it disappears entirely!_ Ken signaled for Davis to hurry, then ran off.

            Kari stirred awake only to hear Davis panting. 

            "What's happening Davis?" she whispered.

            "A portal to the Digital World opened. I think we can get through it."

            Kari lifted her head to see the glowing portal, then rested her head on Davis's chest. 

            Ken reached the portal and looked back. Davis was sprinting full speed and yelling.

            "Go Ken! Get yourself out!"

            Ken shook his head furiously. "No! I'm not leaving without you two!"

            Davis stumbled. Kari stretched her arms out to wrap around Davis's neck. 

            "Ken…it'll be pointless if you're stuck here too. At least if you go, that's one person less to worry about here."

            Ken stared into Davis's hard eyes. "Davis…"

            "Go you moron! How many times to I have to tell you? " Davis yelled.

            Ken looked at the portal. It was small, but Ken could still fit through. Ken sighed and walked in. Davis grunted. Kari was as light as a feather but he had trouble running. His legs were cramped and his side burned, but he kept running. __

"Don't worry Kari, I'll get you back no matter what!"

            Kari glanced up at him, his spiky afro waving due to the wind. He looked down at her. She gave him a warm smile then closed her eyes.

            Davis ran again, feeling more motivated than ever. Ken appeared out of the portal and clenched the sides of the portal with his hands.

            "Come on Davis! Only a few feet more!" Ken roared, his face contorted with fury. He wouldn't be able to hold the portal much longer. Ken gasped and he shut his eyes. Dark energy was being focused inside of him. _I felt this feeling when my digivice transformed here in the Dark Ocean…_He felt refreshed by the darkness and was able to maintain the strength to hold the rift for a few seconds longer. 

            "Davis!" Ken yelled once more. 

            Davis yelled. "Shit!" 

            He threw Kari and Ken tried to catch her between his arms. Davis then hurled himself at Ken and hoped that he would make it.

            The portal snapped closed and sealed with a strange translucent beam.

Ken awoke, dizzy. The floor he laid on was wet. He got up to his feet and glanced around. _The Digital World!_ he thought in relief. 

            "Davis, Kari! We did it! We made it-"

            Davis and Kari were out of sight…

            "No!" Ken cursed. "I failed them! I failed my friends! I'm…a…a monster! I… had the strength to hold the rift a bit longer, but I was careless! I let go too early…!"

            Ken's wail of anguish echoed across the plains.

            Davis opened one eye. _Damn it. _They were still in the Dark Ocean, except that Ken was gone. Kari lay a few feet from him, breathing softly. Davis crawled over to her and collapsed.

            "You all right Kari?" he asked.

            She turned over to face him and nodded. He gave her a quick hug, then got up to help her up to her feet. After she rose, she wiped the sand from her clothes and hair and looked around. 

            "So…did Ken make it through?"

            Davis sighed. "Yeah. But we didn't."

            Kari walked to the edge of the beach. She quickly looked away. Davis ran up to her. 

            "Are you sure you're okay? You look…tired."

            Kari didn't look back at the ocean. All she could do was point.

            Davis looked in the direction she pointed in.

            "I don't see anything. All I see is haze and a…a…" he began.

            Through the gloomy mist, a giant dark shadow appeared. It walked with extremely slow speed but it was coming for them.

            Davis's breath quickened and Kari took a step back. The waves of the ocean once gently, now became furious. The waves crashed about and threatened to explode in a frenzy of water twists. The waves rammed against one another and sent shockwaves trembling through the entire ocean floor.

            Kari closed her eyes. 

He was coming. Dragomon was coming.

            Phew! I think this is one of my longest chapters ever! Interested in the next? Please review! I hate typing T.K.'s name! First of all, you need two periods, which is annoying. Then the computer thinks T.K. is spelled wrong! I don't know how my subject changed to this but I HATE typing T.K.'s name! @#$!! Again, please review if you wish for another chapter. I'd be happy to take in **reasonable** suggestions for my next chapter or story. By the way, is it the Dark Whirlpool? Also, Dragomon is the giant digimon in the Dark Ocean, right? If not, someone please correct me when you review. I would appreciate it!


	4. The Bearing

Disclaimer: 

I do not own Digimon.

Author's Note:

Reviews are coming in nicely now, and I appreciate it! Once again, e-mail me or review if you have **reasonable** suggestions for my next chapter or story. I would be happy to take your ideas into consideration. Sorry for the long wait but I had school projects that took me until three in the morning to finish. I average only about four hours of sleep a day…*yawn*. Anyways, enjoy chapter four.

TRUE COLORS  
Chapter Four: The Bearing

By: UNKNOWN

            A low moan was emitted by the gigantic shadow. Kari glanced at it fleetingly, then began to run.

            "Kari! Wait up!" Davis yelled as he ran after her.

            Kari began sprinting as fast as she could, without knowing where she was going. _I don't care if I have to run forever…I can't let Dragomon take me! _Davis struggled after, his side aching. He had already been running hard when the rift to the Digital World had opened, but now the running was unbearable. Davis stumbled and fell onto his face. 

            "Ugh…" he moaned.

            Kari did not notice. She was running still, her mind seemingly unconscious of everything happening around her. When she did regain her senses, she looked back. Davis was crawling towards her, his face full of determination and covered in sand. Kari thought for a while, then ran back to help him.

            _What have I done…?_ In the midst of green fields and great looming trees knelt a little boy, sobbing into the dirt of the earth. _What have I done…? _Ken looked around. He had made it, but his friends had not. _Davis…Kari…I'll never see them again!_ Ken brought himself up to his feet. He began to walk, his feet shuffling on the floor, as he silently cried in misery.

            "Ken! Davis! Kari!"

            T.K. glanced around. _Where are Davis and Kari? I'm starting to get worried…_ Yolei and Acquilamon had taken off into the skies. Perhaps they would have more luck from a bird's eye view.

            "Penny for your thoughts T.K." Patamon asked.

            T.K. smirked. "You don't know what a penny is- nonetheless even having one. Where'd you pick up that phrase?"

            "Last time I was in your backpack in school and heard two people chatting with each other."

            "You were in my backpack? How many times have I told you that you're not allowed to come to school! If they find you they'll think you're an alien of some kind!"

            Anklyomon rumbled into view from around a huge tree. Cody was seen at the top of his shell.

            "If you guys are going to stand around all day arguing, we'll never find Ken, Davis, or Kari!" Cody reminded.

            Veemon and Gatomon looked anxiously behind Cody's back.

            "Yeah, I know," T.K. replied. "Let's get going Patamon!" 

            Yolei's stomach growled angrily as she looked around for Ken. He was no where to be found… Suddenly her D-3 began to beep and shake. She glanced down casually at it and saw that it displayed a black beeping dot, on the verge of the D-3 map. 

            "T.K.! Cody! I've found Ken!" she yelled to others.

            "All right! Let's go!" T.K. yelled back.

            T.K. got onto Angemon and flew after Acquilamon, who was just a few feet ahead. Ankylomon trotted slowly after them. 

            _What have I done…? _Ken asked himself. _What have I done? I've let my friends get trapped in the Dark Ocean, where they'll live out their days! If only there was a way to the Dark Ocean…_ Ken's D-3 rumbled and Ken reached for his pocket. He pulled it out and saw three colored dots approaching him. _Hmm…I'll need some time to think._

            "All right Acquilamon, Ken should be just up ahead!"

            Yolei looked down at the green forest and dry plains. _How in the world did Ken get here?_

            "Umm…Yolei?" Cody asked. 

            "What is it?"

            "Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" 

            Yolei turned and shouted. "Of course! I'm not stupid Cody! I know how to…to…"

            She stared at her D-3. Ken, who a minute ago had just been in front of them, was now in the opposite direction.

            She gaped for a few more seconds, then snapped back to reality. 

            "How…what happened? When did his signal swerve around us?"

            T.K. sighed. "We were yelling at you for about two minutes, but you weren't paying attention." He grinned. "Too busy looking for Ken probably."

            Yolei gave T.K. a stern look, then grabbed a piece of food out of her bag and chucked it. T.K. gasped as it hit T.K. in the face and splattered. The plastic wrap slowly slid off, leaving a trail of slime. T.K. cursed angrily, then went back to silence. 

            Yolei looked at T.K. for a few more seconds before shouting," All right Acquilamon, let's go that way!"

            The group swerved around as Ankylomon watched from under. The great shoulders shrugged and turned to follow the flying Digimon in the opposite direction.

            Davis was groaning. He was getting weaker by the second; every movement he made sent spasms through his entire body. Kari stooped down next to him and held his hand. 

            "Come on Davis! You don't want to be hanging around here!"

            Davis groaned again as Kari pulled him across the sand. He looked back groggily at the outline of the giant figure. It seemed to have stopped moving. Davis shut his eyes. Every second he was in the Dark Ocean drained him of his courage. His heart felt empty, all his hopes and dreams washed away. He wasn't thinking clearly. His head rolled back and everything went black.

            Kari felt Davis's hand jerk. She looked back to see him hanging like a limp doll. He was breathing, but not making any sign of life. 

            "Davis! Please wake up! This isn't the time to be fooling around!"

            When she decided that Davis really had blacked out, she continued to pull. _Davis is much stronger than I am…I wonder why I haven't blacked out yet?_

            Dragomon growled, the sound reverberating off the cliff walls. His figure began to move again, this time with an alarming speed. Black shadows detached themselves from the cliff walls and from under the dark sea.

            They jumped out with agility not shown by the one Kari had encountered at the cave. She backed up slowly, pulling Davis with her. Five of the shadow creatures blasted through the cliff wall and landed in front of her. Four more strode up by their companion's side. Dragomon stopped at the coastline and did not move any further. His voice echoed throughout the still air.

            "Child of…light. I have never…expected such…a…rare gift from my…servants…"

            'What do you want from me?" she asked. 

            She held on to Davis's limp hand for strength. Her body began to shiver and her legs grew weak. Davis was coming around however. He groaned and sighed as he slowly got to his feet. 

            "Davis! You're okay!" Kari said.

            "Um…yeah, I guess so," Davis replied uncertainly.

            Dragomon lowered his head. " What is he doing here? Take him out!" he roared.

            Davis had a split second to react before the shadow creatures leapt onto him. Snarling and growling, two of them hit Davis in the chest and slammed him to the floor. Three more grabbed each of his sleeves by their jaws and another three grabbed his legs.

            "Ah! Shit!" Davis yelled, his face red and filled with pain. 

            It appeared that the creatures were attempting to pull Davis apart. His sleeve and both legs of the jeans had already ripped. Davis punched one in the face and kicked another in the stomach. Both flew out of the crowd gathering around him and struck the cliff wall. Kari watched helplessly nearby. _What can I do? My best friend is getting killed and I'm not strong enough to help him!_

            "Davis!" Kari cried. 

            Immediately, the shadow creatures turned to look at her with their dull red eyes. Even Dragomon, who had been laughing the whole time, now stopped to stare at her. Kari looked at the astonished shadow creatures, Dragomon, and Davis. Davis's right cheek was cut deep, but he didn't seem to care. _What's going on? Why is everyone…looking at me like that?_ She began to feel hot again. Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead as she clenched her teeth. _Oh no…if my power goes out of control, I might kill Davis!_

            "Move Davis!" she yelled.

            Davis cupped his cheek in pain and rolled nimbly out of the crowd swarming around him. He looked back at Kari just as she exploded in a flash of white light. He squinted as he struggled to interpret what was happening. The shadow creatures all cried in pain and shrieked in pain as the light shot out all about and sucked the life out of the shadow creatures. Dragomon watched unhappily as his servants were killed in less than a blink of an eye by a little human girl.

            After the light dissipated, nine bodies could be seen scattered around the beach, unmoving. Davis took away his arms from shielding his face and walked over to a creature to observe it. Its once black hide was now gray, drained of all energy. Dark blue blood flowed from punctures all over it as chunks of its body blew off and deleted. 

            Ken smiled in satisfaction as he watched Yolei and the other's signals moving the opposite way. His D-3 signal manipulator had given him some time alone before he was found. _After all, it is my fault that Davis and Kari are trapped in the Dark Ocean. I wonder what they're going through now…?_ Ken stuffed his hands into his pockets and continued to walk.

            I know, I know. Very short chapter. Don't worry, the next chapter will be longer and perhaps even be the last. Also, thanks to the people who had suggested ideas, though I have not yet used them. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to review.  


	5. Reminiscence

Disclaimer: 

I do not own Digimon.

Author's Note: Nothing much to say here. Thanks to those reviewers who suggested about the crest of miracles. I had completely forgotten about that! So now that I remember, I might consider adding it in somewhere along the line…

TRUE COLORS  
Chapter Five: Reminiscence

By: UNKNOWN

            Kari dropped down to the floor, her forehead glistening with sweat. Her head throbbed and her heart beat painfully. Every breath she took in hurt, but the pain lessened with each next breath. She rolled over to her side, and watched as Davis came running to her. He kneeled down by her and cradled her in his arms like a child.

            "Kari…are you okay?" he asked.

            Kari smiled and closed her eyes as Dragomon watched from the waters. 

She put one arm around his neck. "It hurts Davis…every second I feel…feel like someone's crushing my mind. I can't fight it anymore…not like this."

"What's wrong?" Davis asked with concern in his voice.

Kari shook her head. "First we need to…find a way out before…Dragomon regains his energy. I…think I temporarily paralyzed…him."

Davis looked back at Dragomon and began to jog, slowly as not to drop Kari. 

Dragomon twisted and struggled against the invisible ropes that were restricting his movement. _What's happening to me?_ He roared out angrily as he felt the invisible ropes tighten on his body. _It must be the girl…she's the only one with the power strong enough to retain me like this! _He grinned, baring all of his gleaming jagged teeth. _The foolish girl doesn't even know the limits of her power…_

==*FLASHBACK*==

   (Dragomon's POV)

            The pristine air of the forest filled my nostrils. My group, already a few feet in front of me, had yelled for me to quicken my pace. Of course, they didn't even know me. I didn't have any real friends…just ones that would talk to me once in a long while. I was lonely. As I began to run, I had noticed a large cave in the cliffs nearby. Curious, I snuck in and took a look around. I sensed darkness in the cave, and I was scared. But the darkness told me not to be afraid, and I listened. I could literally feel the darkness wrap around me, whispering to me that I was alone and no one cared for me, that I was worthless. 

            Strangely, I believed it. Something about it made it feel like it was my destiny to be one with the darkness. I agreed with it to take over my body… it went deep into my heart. It crushed my soul in a single blow. I lost everything…my memories, my hopes and dreams…all shattered. I sensed my body warping and parts shifting, but I didn't care. All I could think of was hate now. I felt hate and the urge for destruction. The darkness told me that I was beyond powerful now, and that no other digimon in the world would rival my powers. Hungry for destruction, it let me loose, and I started by destroying chunks of File Island. Already, armies of digimon had banded together, but were in vain. I swept them aside like rag dolls. Foolish digimon…they thought that they could actually defeat me! Unfortunately, this arrogance I held led me to my downfall. 

            I ventured into the Fissure of Pain, where it was rumored to hold the most powerful beings ever. At first, I was a little worried that my powers would fail me, but I remembered what the darkness said. No digimon would ever rival my powers… Now that I was confident, I stepped up to what seemed like an altar. An angel type digimon emerged from the center of the symbol on the wall, which bore a symbol similar to the crest of Light. When I defeated the weak angel, I was surprised to find him laughing. I still remember what he said…

            "Foolish Dragomon…do you really think you are unstoppable? It may seem that you have defeated me, but I will see that someone will avenge me…starting off by giving a bit of my powers to someone special."

            With that, he flung his arm towards the crest on the wall. It glowed blinding white and when the light vanished, the crest disappeared. Then he turned his gaze to me. His eyes closed and I felt myself ripping apart. Every muscle, every joint, every pain possible was inflicted onto me all at once. I went unconscious and when I woke up in what I now call the Dark Ocean, I could hear laughter…

==*END FLASHBACK*== 

            Dragomon struggled once more to break free. _The pain I feel now…is no doubt the same I felt when that angel attacked me. If my theory holds true, I can absorb the girl's powers and use them to escape from this hellhole. _His eyes narrowed as he watched Davis and Kari disappear over the horizon.

            "What's the matter with these machines?" Yolei cried angrily. "Every time we get close to Ken, it just swerves completely behind us!"

            The three digidestined had tired out from chasing Ken's signal back and forth and had finally stopped to rest. The digimon had collapsed and were resting under a shady tree nearby. The relentless Gatomon and Veemon had finally fallen asleep after ten minutes of questioning. Even Wormmon had been suppressed, forced to sleep like all the others did. 

Cody studied his D-3. "I think it's a trick. Ken might have manipulated his D-3 to be able to jump back and forth like this. After all, he is a computer genius…"

Yolei jumped to her feet. "That's right! He must be doing something with the machinery inside the D-3! Let's see…" 

Yolei began to pull from both sides of the tiny gadget until suddenly it glowed an angry red. 

Cody and T.K. quickly stood up. "Umm…Yolei?"

Yolei had one last gasp of air before the area she was standing in went up in a column of smoke.

Ken massaged the back of his head tenderly. He had been walking for nearly two hours straight. However, he still had no sign of Davis or Kari. He looked up at the puffy white clouds floating in the expansive blue sky. _I have to get to the Dark Ocean somehow…but how can I?_ Suddenly, an explosion rocked him off his feet. He slammed against the dirt and chunks of rocks went flying. Out of the corner of his eye and through the dark smoke, he could make out T.K. and Cody's figure carrying what appeared to be an unconscious Yolei. The partner digimon waddled closely behind.

            "Ken!" Wormmon exclaimed excitedly.

            Wormmon jumped happily into his partner's arms. Veemon and Gatomon chased after.

            "Ken! Have you seen Davis or Kari?" Veemon yelled.

            Ken flicked his hair out of his eyes. "Yes…I have. They're trapped in the Dark Ocean, all thanks to me…"

            "All thanks to you? What do you mean?" Gatomon asked.

The crunching noise of Davis's shoes on the sand echoed throughout the coast. Davis could not find a way to get atop of the cliff which hung almost tauntingly over him. In order to at least hide from Dragomon, he needed to get onto the cliff to take cover in the forest just beyond the cliff's edge.

"What are we going to do Kari? We're trapped…" Davis moaned.

Kari silenced him with a finger then pointed over at the far end of the coast. 

"Hey you're right! Even half asleep you're smarter than me!" he joked.

Kari gave a weak smile then urged him on. The bad part of this plan was that Davis once again had to cross Dragomon's path, which was very dangerous since they didn't know what he was capable of shooting out of his unrestricted mouth. However, all Dragomon did was glare at them as they quickly ran to the ramp Kari had pointed at. 

_No! They're getting away! Must call…my…minions…_ Dragomon roared out loud and began to thrash against the ropes.

"All right Kari! We're out of Dragomon's ugly sight!" Davis yelled happily.

            He lay Kari down by a tree and squatted next to her. Kari glanced momentarily at the boy who she once thought arrogant and extremely competitive. But now, he was the only person she could depend on, and he was doing a very good job of doing it. He looked at her bright face. She stared into the depths of his eyes, reflecting courage. But there was also something else that was hidden from her; something just barely out of reach… She suddenly remembered that she had been staring at him for quite a long time and averted her gaze to look at a tree. Davis smiled and allowed his legs to lie on the dark grass. 

Abruptly, the ground burst around them. At first, there was nothing. Davis and Kari looked around frightfully for hostile creatures. As Davis strained to hear, he heard swishing noises that gave him an impression of something large. The tree behind him burst in a shower of bark, dust, and other unidentified data. The things piled onto Davis as he cried out in shock. Kari mustered the strength to stand.

 Under the large pile, she could see Davis's face full of determination. The dust shifted off the pile as Davis struggled to lift off the debris. 

"Hold on! I'll-" Kari began. 

She felt two wires whap her in her stomach. Her legs collapsed and she hit the floor. Two more of the wires wrapped around her legs and drew her underground. She struggled for approximately three seconds before she lost the strength to gain hold of the edges of the hole. Right as she disappeared, Davis crawled from out of the debris. 

"Kari!" he yelled. "Kari!"

His knees sank to the floor as he sobbed quietly. _She's gone…just like that…right in front of me…_ A branch from a neighboring tree snapped off due to the explosion and smacked Davis in the head, rendering him unconscious.

Dragomon grinned as he felt the wires about him loosening. _ My minions must have succeeded in capturing that foolish girl. Her powers over me are diminishing…_ He tugged one arm out of the ropes and ripped it to shreds. His thundering footsteps sent tremors through the earth as he landed on the soft sand. _Soon…I will escape from this wretched land and take the Digital World as mine!_ His teeth bared and saliva dripped out from the gaps between his jagged teeth. The ocean swirled and parted before him with a simple flick of the wrist. The ocean splashed down again and his silhouette blended in with the black waters of the Dark Ocean.

Okay…so I guess I was wrong. This chapter isn't longer nor is it the last one. Sorry for the inconvenience but I am just getting way too many projects and tests to study for and I have no time to type. I'm guessing it'll take me about one month to write a single chapter. Luckily, the holidays are approaching and I'll probably type another one in my spare time. Oh yeah, if you want Daikari proof, read my profile. It's not exactly correct, but it's enough to show me that at least Takari doesn't exist in the future…__


	6. Bonds of Friendship

Disclaimer: 

I do not own Digimon.

Author's Note: Okay! Now that it is the holidays, I will type as ferociously as can! I have the plot completely thought out…I just hope that I don't forget it. Well…nothing else to say here.

TRUE COLORS

Chapter Six: Bonds of Friendship

By: UNKNOWN

            "So that's what happened?"

            Ken nodded grimly and looked down at his hands.

            Yolei, T.K., and Cody, along with the digimon, stood around Ken in a circle. Ken had retold the tale of how he had escaped from the Dark Ocean, but left Davis and Kari behind.

            "If they get seriously hurt…it's going to be all because of me! I just…can't think…!"

            The other digidestined glanced at each other and smiled. 

            "Ha! Don't be so worried Ken! It's not your fault!" Yolei said.

            Ken looked up. "It's not?"

            "Sure! Davis has a million ways of taking care of himself! You know, he could um…attack with his spiky hair or release some toxic gases…"

            T.K. and Cody stared at Yolei and then slowly backed away from her.

            Yolei yelled, "It was only a suggestion! I'm trying to be helpful here!"

            "Well, technically she is right," T.K. started. "Davis is a really tough guy. I'm positive that Davis's spirit can get them both out."

            "Thanks guys…but I don't care if they're able to get out eventually! I'm getting them out now!" Ken growled.

            "Yeah, but how are you going to do that?" Wormmon asked.

            Ken grinned. "Follow me."

            "Is she awake…?"

            "Perhaps she is dead."

            "I do not think so…her stomach still makes movements…"

            Kari blinked. Her vision was blurry but she could make out black figures standing around her. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes. Six dark digimon surrounded her, each with a seemingly special attribute. 

            "Well…she is awake now."

            She glanced quickly around the room for an escape route, but found none. The digimon around her suddenly stepped back to the walls and coagulated into statues. Kari sat up and hopped down to the stone cold floor. Her gloves were missing and so was one of her shoes, but they didn't matter now. She felt the walls as if she were a mime, and began to feel frustration after she had searched the entire room.

            "Having fun?"

            She jumped. The voice was in the room, but she saw nothing. At once, the wall in front of her began to shimmer. It flowed back and forth like water so crazily that she could not understands why it did not already crack into millions of pieces. Dragomon's hideous head emerged, then came the rest of his body. Kari backed up as far as she could from Dragomon.

            "Why am I here? Why did you take me?"

            "You have something I need…"

            She stammered. "W-what?"

            Dragomon growled, his voice echoing in the small empty room. 

            'Foolish girl! Do you not know what powerful ability you possess? Your light! I need it to escape from this foul place! I will make you part of me so that I will carry the power necessary to tear a hole in the space-time continuum and reach the digital world!" 

            Dragomon was practically shrieking now, and his eyes seemed to bulge from their sockets. Kari could tell he was desperate. He wanted to go to the digital world obviously, but that wasn't his true intention. From the look in his eyes, she could see that he was frantic for strength. Dragomon wanted strength over anything else, but why would he need it? Apparently, he was already the strongest in the Dark Ocean and no other dark digimon had the power to overthrow him…

            Kari stood silently as she watched Dragomon. 

            "I don't know what your powers are doing to me now…but I will…get you…tomorrow!" Dragomon cursed.

            Kari stared n disbelief. She was actually using her powers on him? _I can't even feel it anymore…like it's out of control or something_. Kari watched Dragomon walk through the shimmering wall while twitching and mumbling. After he had disappeared, she quickly attempted to also run through. When she was approximately five feet away from it, the statues liquefied and once again became digimon. In less than a blink of the eye, they were in front of her. She backed down and once again sat on the stone platform at the center of the room. _Where am I? Where are the others? Where's Davis…?_

Davis moaned as he stirred to life. _What happened?_ He stood up shakily as he recalled the events that occurred before he was knocked out. _Oh yeah, they took Kari…_ He brushed off the dust and dirt on his shirt and stood up. He looked around for the tunnel in which she had been taken to, but could not find it. 

            "Damn it. They must've covered the holes up. I thought that these digimon were stupid too…"

            Davis began to walk groggily to the coast. He looked down at his reflection in the dark waters. A teenage boy with dark brown eyes and raspberry brown hair looked back. He sat down and laid back. _What am I doing? _

"Where are we headed to Ken?" Stingmon asked.

            "Just keep going. I'll tell you when to stop." Ken replied.

            He looked back to see Yolei, Cody, and Armadillomon riding on Acquilamon, and T.K., Veemon, and Gatomon atop of Pegasusmon.

            Ken's hair fluttered wildly in the wind as he squinted to scan the land below. _Where did I land after I escaped from the Dark Ocean?_ Right then, he felt a spasm in his temple. He yelled out in pain and Stingmon flipped.

            Stingmon was going straight down; he couldn't regain altitude. His wings were flapping helplessly as he pummeled to the ground like a two hundred pound weight.  

            "Pegasusmon! We have to get them!" T.K. yelled.

            Pegasusmon was fast, but in this case, not even the fastest flyer could have saved Stingmon and Ken. 

            "Acquilamon! See that body of water there?" 

            Acquilamon nodded and swerved to the right to get across from the falling Stingmon. Pegasusmon and Acquilamon both fired an attack at the water and it gushed forward at Stingmon, inches from the ground. The water didn't help much, but it slowed Stingmon's descent enough for him and Ken to survive. Stingmon whapped the floor and Ken bounced off. 

            Stingmon laid lazily on the muddy floor. " Ah…so this is what a mud bath feels like."

            Ken grasped throbbing head. _What happened to me? _The pain had disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. He looked around. It was the place that he had arrived in after he went through the portal in the Dark Ocean. There was the familiar slanted hill, along with the patch of blue flowers lying next to a cut down tree.

            "We're here," Ken said.

            T.K. jumped off Pegasusmon and landed nimbly onto the soft mud. 

            "Yeah, but where exactly is 'here'?"

            Yolei, Cody and all the other digimon joined to stand next to Ken.

            Stingmon, Pegasusmon, and Acquilamon had de-digivolved to their rookie stages.

            Ken touched the air with the tip of his finger. A barely visible flash of purple was seen. 

            "The entrance is here," Ken confirmed.

            "All right! …How do we open it?" Cody asked.

            Ken scratched his head. "I haven't figured that part out yet, but we have to try anyways."

            "Enough with the yapping, let's get to work!" T.K. yelled.

            Everyone stared at him, then shrugged. Ken began to pound on the invisible force field like a maniac, but nothing happened. Armadillomon, Hawkmon, and Patamon digivolved to their champion forms and used all their might against the force field. The force field held and the energy focused on it lanced back at them.

            "Yikes! I could feel the heat from that attack!" Ankylomon complained.

            Angemon clattered the force field with his staff until he tired out. Meanwhile, Ken, T.K., Cody, and Yolei sat on a cluster of rocks nearby. 

            "This is hopeless…how can we get through that impenetrable force field?" Yolei asked.

            Ken's head snapped up like a whip. "I got it!"

            The digimon stopped their relentless attacks on the force field to look at Ken. The other digidestined silenced to listen.

            "I was thinking…friendship got me through that gate. I wasn't willing to go through, but Davis's urge for me to save myself was what finally made me go through." Ken stood up. "I think that if we focus our energies, we can send our friendship through that damn gate to reach Davis and Kari! Then maybe…maybe the gate will unseal."

            "Well…it's the only plan we've got. Besides, I kind of like the sound of it," Yolei said.

            "All right! Let's go!" T.K. exclaimed.

            The digimon walked forward to watch the digidestined.

            "What a smart handful of kids. You can always count on humans to come up with sophisticated plans like that!" Angemon remarked.

            "So…you're saying that digimon aren't intelligent?" Stingmon replied.

            "I didn't say that…"

            "You two! Quiet!' Acquilamon scolded. "The kids need silence to concentrate!"

            Gatomon and Veemon sat by quietly and watched curiously.

            Ken, Yolei, Cody, and T.K. stood in front of the force field. The soft wind ruffled their hair and leaves were scattered about.

            "All right, here we go!" Ken said.

            The four digidestined held up their D-3s to the gate and closed their eyes. Their eyebrows crunched together and their faces were full of determination.

_Come on guys…we're here for you! We're here to get you out of the Dark Ocean! We're giving everything we've got, and I'm not about to give up!_

_Kari…Davis…though you guys might not survive long enough to ever see us again, I just want you guys to know that we'll always be there for you, like we are now! I just can't imagine life without you guys…_

_I know we can do this! You can trust us to get you guys out of the Dark Ocean! Then we can go back to the real world together! Just hang on…!_

_Listen to me! Even when things are looking their worst, never give up! I don't know exactly what you're going through now, but we'll get you guys out of that damned place. Trust me…!_

Acquilamon, Angemon,Ankylomon, and Stingmon watched from afar.

"Nothing…if this doesn't work, then nothing will!" Angemon whispered.

"What do you mean?" Acquilamon asked.

"The strongest bond between people- humans and digimon- is friendship. Friendship ties people together, like a wire connected to each other. If this can't get through to Davis and Kari, I don't see how anything can open this gate!"

"Oh…I see," Stingmon replied.

Then, the digidestined began to glow. 

Angemon smiled. "This is exactly what I meant."

A black streak shot out of Ken, yellow out of T.K., green and pink out of Yolei, purple and gray out of Cody. The streaks flashed towards the gate, shrugging off massive amounts of energy. They hit the invisible force field in a blinding explosion. The force field, once invisible, was now becoming clearer. The gate fuzzed with static as electricity swarmed all about it. Sparks bounced off its covering and fires erupted from the ground below it, but it still held. 

"I think it's weakened! Attack it!"

The four champion digimon attacked at once, smashing the gate to pieces. Behind it was darkness. T.K., Yolei, and Cody shivered. 

"Is that the Dark Ocean?" T.K. asked.

"Come on! Let's go before it closes!" Ken yelled.

The four digidestined and their digimon jumped into the hole in the sky. Right behind them, the deleted data reformed as the purple barrier reformed. A translucent beam sealed the gate and the purple color gradually faded to opaque. 

Davis sat by the dark waters, watching it flow back and forth. _It's hopeless. Even if I were able to find where Kari was, Dragomon's minions would obliterate me_. 

Ken squinted as he looked around in amazement. He was traveling through the rift, along with everyone else. It looked like a bunch of lights and glowing balls, exactly as he remembered it the first time he went through. The other digidestined stayed silent and looked around while Yolei made barely audible whines of terror.

Davis stood up. He felt warmth surge through him. The soul breaking power of the Dark Ocean was lifting. _What's going on? I feel…brave…courage! It's like all my friends are here by me right now!_ He looked around and saw Ken, Cody, Yolei, and T.K. _Am I hallucinating or are they really here? _Davis shook his head. _ How could they be here? It's impossible…but still…_Davis stared at the hallucinations until they began to move. Davis jumped.

"Whoa! That's a first! My hallucinations are moving like real people!"

Yolei walked up to Davis and slapped him in the face, knocking him to the floor. Davis choked.

"That's a first too…my hallucinations are kicking my ass…"

Ken grabbed Davis by the collar and yanked him upwards, then straightened Davis's shirt.

"Davis…where's Kari?" Ken asked.

Davis's eyes lowered to the floor as he began to shuffle his feet.

T.K. growled. "Don't tell me you let her be taken away!"

"She was…by these weird invisible things."

T.K. ran up to Davis and grabbed his collar, slamming him against the wall.

"You bastard! How could you let them take Kari! What the hell were you doing that was so important?"

Davis threw T.K.'s hands off then shoved him back.

"Well I would like to see you take her to safety from Dragomon, the fend off invisible vine things and then avoid getting knocked out by a large branch that drops onto your head! I'd like to see you do that T.J.!"

"How do I know you're not just making up some stupid story- I've never heard or seen any invisible di-" T.K. began.

"Actually T.K., there are four known types of invisible digimon in the Digital World. But since this is the Dark Ocean, I can't exactly put Davis's descriptions to use," Patamon informed.

T.K. groaned. "Sorry Davis. I guess I got a little over-tempered."

Davis patted his jacket. 

"A little? Are you crazy? You went ballistic! I bet you would've killed me if I didn't push you away. But…you had a good reason too. I let them take Kari away…and I don't know what they're doing to her! She's alone, and most likely scared. I need to get to her!"

T.K. removed his hat and scratched his blond hair. 

"How do we see these invisible things- I mean in case they attack us?" 

Hawkmon shook his head. 

"Impossible I'm afraid. Only a very powerful light source could reveal them, or a digimon with special eyesight."

Davis and Veemon were hugging and practically beating each other up in joy.

"Davis!" Ken yelled.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know where Dragomon's base is?" Gatomon asked.

Davis rubbed his chin, then looked out at the black waters which extended to as far as the eye could see. The winds blew the waters and created waves that splashed gently against one another.

"I think it's somewhere around there. When I first saw Dragomon, he was standing over there," Davis said, finger pointing.

"All right, let's go Davis!" Cody said, walking forward in sync with the others.

"Go where?" Davis asked fearfully.

Cody smiled and motioned for him to follow along.

"Do you really need to ask?"

Finally! A chapter long enough to be able to read for more than seven minutes! I have decided that there will be two more chapters until the end, so then I can move onto my next story. It will involve the attack on Dragomon's base and their final confrontation with Dragomon. Will the digidestined be able to destroy Dragomon before he can absorb Kari into himself? If you are really bored, you can try to guess who is thinking what in that part where the digidestined are focusing their powers to open the gate. Just post it up with your review in order from top to bottom. If it's right…I don't know what I'll do. Just leave your e-mail address and maybe I'll use you as a beta reader! Okay, anyways, just review please! 


	7. Infiltration

Disclaimer: 

I do not own Digimon.

Author's note: At last, the digidestined are reunited, with the exception of Kari, and are about to take on Dragomon and his legions. Brace yourself for the darkest chapter of the series…

TRUE COLORS

Chapter Seven: Infiltration

By: UNKNOWN

            The dark waters of the Dark Ocean churned and splashed as rain poured heavily onto the digidestined below. Davis and Veemon were struggling to keep up as the other digidestined walked towards the edge of the coast. 

            "How can we get into Dragomon's base? It's underwater and only Sumbarinemon is able to survive underwater…" Ken asked.

            "Cody, I think you should go down first and tell us what you see," Yolei said.

            "All right, let's go Armadillomon!" Cody yelled.

            Armadillomon elongated and a harpoon like object protruded from his nose. White armor flashed and a cockpit slid open on his back.

            "Hop on in Cody!" Sumbarinemon exclaimed.

            'Well, I guess we're stuck here until Cody gets back," Yolei remarked.

            Kari looked down at the lifeless room. It was dull and drained of life. The six digimon were still standing guard. She could hear the waters outside rumble and implode against one another. Dragomon had promised that he would be back today. Her time was almost up… _I've got to find a way out…but how? _She hopped onto the cold floor beneath her and immediately the six cloaked digimon turned their gaze to her. She felt frozen by their glares; they seemed to have immobilized her body. Slowly, she felt herself being lifted and put back onto the platform in the middle of the room. This time however, she was bound by invisible threads of energy.

            The wall before her began to shimmer wildly. The ripples parted and as Dragomon walked through, it seemed as if the substance were rubber. Dragomon walked forward, his eyes bent low and his teeth bared. He turned to the nearest digimon which had melted into a statue. 

            "Death, Chaos, Famine, Apocalypse, Terror, Hatred. I have need of you. The digidestined have managed to tweak the fabrics of space and time and are here in the Dark Ocean. You six will destroy them, clear?" Dragomon asked.

            The six statues straightened and liquefied into the cloaked figures and walked through the shimmering wall.  

            _Digidestined? Davis, T.K., Yolei, Ken, and Cody must be here! Oh, I hope they aren't hurt by those six dark digimon…_ Kari lifted her head to stare Dragomon in the eye. 

            "If you want my powers so badly, then why don't you take them now?" Kari yelled.

            Dragomon grinned, yellow teeth gleaming.

            "You will see the destruction of your fellow digidestined and will feel the pain of being alone before you die," he replied.

            "Even if you can kill my friends, I won't be alone!" she cried.

            "No?"

            "My friends are always with me! They always have and they always will. I believe in them as they believe in me, and our bond of friendship will be your demise!" Kari shouted, her face filled with fury.

            Dragomon lowered his head. 

            "We will see about that."

            He turned and snapped his fingers. Kari felt the ropes that tied her down dissolve. She sat up and rubbed her sore arms, then turned to watch Dragomon disappear through the wall. After he had disappeared, she quickly ran up to the wall and probed it for any traces of soft spots. When she could not, she plopped down onto the floor and sighed. _It's hopeless…_

            "Maybe we should go up now Cody, I don't see a thing!" Sumbarinemon said.

            Cody looked around in desperation. Dragomon's base would have to be somewhere underwater, but the ocean was too big to explore at once. Nothing even remotely resembled a place where digimon would likely live. 

            "Sumbarinemon, look to your right! What are those…?"

            Sumbarinemon turned and noticed three figures flying towards the surface. 

            "I can't see. I can only make out their figures," Sumbarinemon replied.

            "Well, we'd better follow. They're going towards the direction that Davis and the others are waiting."

            Cody whipped out his D Terminal and began to type. 

            Yolei jumped as her D Terminal beeped. Everyone looked at her then laughed. Yolei began to blush, then looked down at the screen. The rain was pouring now, and streaks of purple lightning cut through the air.

            "Cody says that three digimon are headed for us and he can't be sure if they're hostile or not."

            Ken turned. "Then I think we'd better get ready."

            Paildramon landed softly on the sand, followed by Acquilamon and Angemon. 

            Purple lightning struck the waters and it parted, allowing not three, but five digimon to surface.

            "I never knew that Cody's counting was that bad!" Yolei said sarcastically.

            "Quiet!" Ken growled, harsher then he intended.

            The five digimon stood in front of them, their dark cloaks swaying in the heavy wind. Their giant frames were unwavering. 

Acquilamon narrowed his eyes. "The Six Wanderers of Darkness!"

"Six? I only count five…" Yolei trailed off.

Another cloaked figure emerged from the waters. It was as if the water had no effect against the robes as it showed no trace of being wet.

The six dark digimon stood face to face with Paildramon, Acquilamon, and Angemon. Sumbarinemon popped out of the waters and slid onto the coast. He quickly de-digivolved to Armadillomon, then digivolved to Ankylomon. He merged with Angemon to form Shakuamon. The foremost digimon cocked its head, if it had one, then lunged for Paildramon. A blue sword materialized from its hand and it slashed. Paildramon went flying, crashing into the sand with a loud thud. Paildramon got up, then fired back with his guns. The digimon ran forward, hand outstretched. The lasers struck the hand, then repelled back and blew Paildramon back to the cliffs. Giant cracks cut through the walls and boulders the size of cars fell. 

"Move Paildramon!" Davis yelled. 

Paildramon crawled weakly, just in time to avoid being squashed.

Acquilamon and Shakuamon quickly joined the battle. Two more of the Wanderers of Darkness leaped in. Acquilamon batted one with his wings while ramming another with his horns. Shakuamon's size gave him a disadvantage, as the dark digimon were too small for him to be easily targeted.

As Acquilamon was struggling to regain altitude, one of the dark digimon shoved its hand in his face and fire shot through. Acquilamon dropped like a rock, feathers burning. Two swords clanged on Shakuamon's armor while Shakuamon shot wildly. Another two Wanderers walked in to help finish off Shakuamon. The swords began to show damage as Shakuamon's armor started to dent. Fire erupted from the hand of one and struck Shakuamon in the eyes. Paildramon, now recovered, ran in with rage.

"You think you're tough? Maybe you'd like a piece of this!"

His hands crossed and two steel blades sliced through the air, glowing with blue. Paildramon twisted and slashed, clearing a path in front of Shakuamon.

"Justice beam!"

Orange light erupted from Shakuamon's eyes and burnt a Wanderer. The cloak showed signs of injury, but the digimon did not. A skeletal hand beneath a sleeve protruded a scythe from under its cloak. It whipped through the air and struck a hole in Shakuamon's armor. Shakuamon groaned and fell into the sand.

"Shakuamon!" T.K. and Cody yelled.

Shakuamon shook and attempted to rise, but in vain. He glowed bright yellow, then parted into Upamon and Tokomon. T.K. and Cody ran to scoop them up.

It was now a five on two. Acquilamon managed to get up and join Paildramon in the battle. 

"Acquilamon, tell us what you know about these guys," Yolei whispered.

"They are ancient history. In the old age, in the times of darkness, these six were the top leaders of power. All I know is that they were banished, and it appears that they arrived here."

"Do they have any weaknesses whatsoever?" Ken asked.

"Afraid not. However, their names represent the types of destruction: Death, Chaos, Famine, Apocalypse, Terror, and Hatred." 

"What do their names have to do with weakness?" 

Acquilamon looked down at Ken.

"Nothing. But think about it. If all they can do is destroy, what reverses destruction?"

"…Mechanics?" Ken guessed. 

Acquilamon growled. "Life! When things are destroyed, life brings them back! If we can somehow harness the power of life, we should be able to defeat them. But for now…"

Fingers pointed at Acquilamon, the one called Famine blasted flames out of his outstretched hand. It was easy to see how it got its name. Every attack he used had something to do with heat and fire. 

"Maybe some water could defeat Famine," Acquilamon suggested after dodging the dancing flames. 

"Impossible. It's raining hard now and he isn't affected." 

Paildramon and Acquilamon raced forward, weapons ready.

"Grand Horn!"

"Desperado Blaster!"

Once again, the attacks did nothing but anger the Six Wanderers, and they quickly looked up at the two digimon. The ones called Chaos and Hatred leapt up and swatted Paildramon and Acquilamon out of the sky. 

"If Kari were here, we'd stand a better chance. I need Kari to DNA digivolve with Acquilamon!" Gatomon shouted.

Lightning struck again, this time in the center of the fighting digimon. The fire spread about, then died down. 

Chaos withdrew a giant axe upon his back and struck the floor, sending waves of energy trembling through the floor. Being flying digimon, Paildramon and Acquilamon easily dodged the attacks. 

The latter Wanderer, the one which had appeared last, let loose a growl of fury. All five of the Wanderers straightened, then pounced.

_Kari! I need you!_ Gatomon thought.

Kari gasped, her eyes fluttering open. She quickly stood up, and glanced around the room. _I heard Gatomon's voice. She must be close…but where?_ The wall before her shimmered, and Dragomon walked through. 

"What do you want?" Kari asked.

"I want you to see the destruction of your friends…follow me," Dragomon said.

He pointed towards the shimmering wall and it parted, allowing Kari to walk through. Dragomon followed close behind. Kari was in a giant room which looked like a king's throne. A long walkway cut the middle of the room, which lead to a huge chair guarded by two dragon digimon. The pillars which supported the room stretched to at least forty feet high, and curved inwards at the end. Ten or more rooms branched off from this one; this was some kind of main building. Dragomon walked across to the other room and pushed Kari in. Inside was a kind of watery substance paved across the wall.

"I'll give you some decent treatment before I absorb you. You can watch your friends die and be helpless to do anything about it…" he said.

Dragomon laughed softly and walked out the door, sealing it with a shimmering wall. Kari pounded on the wall, desperate to escape. But when she found that she couldn't, she turned to look at the watery wall. It began to shift and shake, then Kari could make out blurred images. She could see a blue and green creature…Paildramon! The picture began to clear, and she could see the entire battle. Paildramon and Acquilamon stood one side; they appeared to be injured. The six dark digimon that guarded her in the last room stood on the other. The digidestined stood on one side, yelling out advice and encouragement. Upamon and Tokomon were held in Cody and T.K.'s arms and Gatomon stood by Ken's side.

"I've got to help Gatomon DNA digivolve with Acquilamon but without my presence, she doesn't have the power to!"

Kari took a deep breath, then glared at the screen. _I've got to try and send my light to her, even as impossible as it may seem…_ She pointed her hands at the screen, focusing her powers the way she had when she destroyed Dragomon's minions, and let out a cry of surprise. Something from within her shot out and flew into the watery screen. Kari stared at the screen for a second, then rubbed her stomach. _What was that?_

Paildramon jumped back as fire swept across the floor. The rain washed the fire away, but Famine's attack was relentless. It kept firing and firing. Finally, the fire snaked around Paildramon and wrapped about him. The heat was searing his skin and steam rose from out of his body. At last, the rain cooled down the fire and Paildramon fell. Acquilamon was busy avoiding the chopping of Chaos' axe. 

"I can't even land a blow on these guys!" Paildramon complained.

"Keep trying!" Acquilamon answered.

The fight raged on. The rain soon made it impossible to see. It was dark. Dark enough to make out the Wanderers' yellow eyes beneath their dark cloaks. The sixth Wanderer, Apocalypse, still had not moved from the position in which it had first appeared.

Suddenly, the air flashed pink as something which closely resembled the figure of a woman burst out of the water and rammed straight into Gatomon. 

"What the hell was that?" Davis yelled.

"It's Kari! I can feel…it's like she's right here by me!" Gatomon cried.

Acquilamon turned. "Then we'd better do it now before it wears off!"

Acquilamon and Gatomon merged together to form Silphymon.

"Now things are a bit more even!" Silphymon growled. "Static Force!"

The attack hit a Wanderer and sent it tumbling into its comrades. Almost immediately, Hatred jumped back up and pulled a javelin out from its back. Silphymon and Paildramon rushed together, charging the lone Wanderer. Hatred put its javelin straight across its palms and stood its ground. The combined power of the two ultimate digimon couldn't even break the Wanderer's javelin. Hatred spun and slashed Paildramon in the face, then smacked Silphymon in the back. 

Paildramon was weakening. He had been in the battle for the longest time and his weariness was showing. He stumbled as he tried to rejoin the battle.

"Paildramon! You've got to stop! They'll destroy you!" Ken yelled, his voice barely heard through the rain.

"I…can't let Silphymon…fight alone," he replied drowsily.

Terror ran up to Paildramon with a blurring speed and punched him in the face. It seemed like a punch until Terror withdrew its fist. From its knuckles extended a thin blade, almost two feet long. Paildramon dropped. His mask was cracked and a hole appeared where a mouth should have been. Terror jumped onto Paildramon and continued to stab the helpless digimon. Silphymon flew over to Paildramon and shoved Terror off. 

"Paildramon, de-digivolve!" Silphymon roared.

Paildramon rolled over onto his back. "I'm not going to let you fight a-alone…"

Paildramon sat up as his guns fell off. One of his wings was broken and scratched. As he got into fighting stance, his knees snapped and he went down again. This time, he couldn't hold himself together. He de-digivolved.

"Watch out!" Davis cried.

Davis ducked under Silphymon's protection and snatched the two in-training digimon out of harm's way.  

Silphymon turned back to face the Six Wanderers. _How can we defeat these guys? It'll take a miracle!_

Terror, Hatred, Chaos, Famine, and Death charged forth, weapons thrust outwards. Silphymon dodged Hatred and Death's attacks, but failed to see Famine's fire burst out of its palms. Terror's speed was still too quick and he slashed Silphymon in the thigh. Silphymon dropped and all five Wanderers were on him. Silphymon blocked what he could, but the Wanderer's power was overwhelming. In one last effort, he surrounded himself with a white aura which held off their attacks for two milliseconds. 

"Silphymon!" Kari cried, her gaze transfixed on the glowing screen. 

Then, the screen went blank. 

"No!" she gasped. "What happened?"

Dragomon blew apart the shimmering wall and grabbed Kari's collar. 

"I'll leave it up to your imagination to decide your friends' fate."

Once again, he tossed her into the room where she started out. She looked around, then walked over to the center platform. _My friends…they're doomed. There's no way that they could defeat those digimon; let alone even one of them._ _Paildramon and Shakuamon are down, and I can be sure that Silphymon is next._

She looked up at the ceiling of the room, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. 

Dragomon glanced at her for a brief second before exiting and resealing the wall behind him.

_Was that pity I saw in his eyes…?_

A single blast from Famine flungSilphymon across the coast. He slid across the mud and banged his head against rock. He struggled to get up, then launched an attack. The attack blazed on the cloak of Terror, but he showed no emotions of pain. Death calmly strode over to Silphymon, who was now lying on the floor. It reached for him with his hand and grabbed his throat. Pain! Every muscle in Silphymon jolted. Every data bit quivered. Silphymon was launched twelve feet into the air and hit the floor with a thud. Silphymon rolled over to his side, then de-digivolved. 

As Yolei took Poyomon and Salamon, the digidestined watched fearfully as the Six Wanderers approached them. A wave of fear washed over them. Apocalypse raised both hands and made a crunching motion with them. The digidestined's minds felt like they were being crushed. They groaned in pain as they fell to the floor. Miraculously, Davis still stood, his hands grabbing onto his head. 

_I'm not going to let a bunch of evil digimon stop me from saving Kari! I've got to try- she's depending on all of us!_ Davis narrowed his eyes as he felt something inside him move. What was going on…?

"Ah!" Davis cried in surprise.

He shook his head as he began to feel warmth surge through his body. _I must be dreaming! I remember this sensation from when I unleashed the egg of Miracles…!_

The Six Wanderers glared down at him until he released rays of golden light. The light flashed once and the entire area brightened. Soon, Davis was glowing in a golden aura. His friends began to stand, seemingly revitalized by the power of his light.

"What's happening?" Yolei asked.

"I don't know…" Ken replied.

The Six Wanderers backed up, their hoods lowered.

"It's the crest of Miracles…" Poyomon whispered.

Everyone turned to him. "How do you know that?"

"Remember when we were in Ken's base when he was the digimon emperor? Davis discovered the egg in a sort of energy room. When he got near it, the egg felt that he had the power to take control of Miracles. So then, the egg made itself accepted to Davis."

"Then why did it disappear after Veemon became Magnamon?" Cody asked.

Poyomon seemed almost half-asleep, but his voice was full of energy. 

"That's because of the presence of darkness. Normally, the digi-egg is full of light energy, which allows us to armor digivolve. But since it was in Ken's base, the egg became half corrupted. It was an egg made of half light energy and half dark energy. Therefore, the egg did not function properly when Davis claimed it. It should have digitized itself to be kept in Davis's D Terminal but instead, it imbedded the crest of Miracles into him."

            "How do you know all this?" Ken asked.

            "It's just a guess- none of us know enough about the digi-eggs to be sure anyways," Poyomon answered defensively.

            The Six Wanderers couldn't seem to take the light. They were all slowly backing down, slowly inching towards the ocean. The rain had stopped; the fog was lifting. 

            _Hmm…of Kari's power can blast things, I wonder what mine can do?_ Davis put his hands together and aimed at the Wanderers. Four leapt away but the other two were too slow to react. A golden blaze fired out of Davis's arm, leaping out from within his heart where all his courage was kept. His courage fueled the fire as he continued to burn the two Wanderers, now twisting in pain.

            The two Wanderers, Hatred and Chaos, burst into flames and deleted with loud screams of pain. Dark gases erupted from their data and were soon blown away by the wind. Terror ran at a blinding speed, too fast for the naked eye to decipher. Somehow, Davis spun and nailed Terror in the hood with a fiery fist. Terror's head blew off, then the rest of its body deleted. The remaining three crouched in a defensive position, glaring at Davis with deep hate. Apocalypse growled loudly and put its hands on Famine and Death. Famine and Death began to shake violently. Their robes ripped and shredded; blue blood could be seen leaking under them. Their yellow eyes flashed red and fire burned them out. They howled in agony as they seemed to be accumulated into Apocalypse. 

            After the terrifying noises ended, Apocalypse unsheathed a sword from behind its back. Glowing with a violet- black aura, he struck Davis twice. Davis managed to parry the first blow, but the second caught him in the neck. Luckily, the power of Miracles deflected most of the concentrated power. Davis flung it off, then blasted a beam at Apocalypse. The beam went through Apocalypse and forced him to the ground. Apocalypse looked down at his body to see a gaping wound, blood flowing freely. One hand stretched forth, it sent tremors through the air that knocked Davis out of the air. As he landed, Apocalypse sent a ring of fire around Davis and swept it upwards like a net, ensnaring him within. Davis could feel the fire eating away at his powers. _I need to focus! Apocalypse is trying to wear me out my playing mind tricks on me. I can't let it win or else it will destroy my friends without mercy!_

            Davis pushed with one foot and snapped the fire rope. He snarled, then jumped onto Apocalypse. 

            "Take this you bastard!" he screamed.

            Davis shoved his hand into Apocalypse's hood and mustered all the firepower he could. Strangely, he could feel a hard hide beneath the hood. Apocalypse began to twitch violently as he struggled to throw Davis off. When it found that it could not, it began to roll in desperation. The fire spread throughout its body and eventually, Apocalypse erupted into golden flames. They ate away at its body until it burst into a shower of pieces and data. Davis landed on the floor, weary. Using his powers had depleted his energy. _So this is how Kari feels when she uses her…powers…_ Davis blacked out.

            Cody was the first to reach Davis.

            "Davis! Are you all right?"

            "It looks like he's blacked out…" Yolei mumbled.

            "Let him rest. He saved us all anyways. I never thought he was capable of doing that…"

            "Come on Cody! Davis's light revitalized me! We can go search for Dragomon's base now!" Armadillomon reminded.

            "Oh, all right," Cody replied.

            He turned to see Ken, Yolei, and the rest of the digimon gathered around a sleeping Davis.

            "I'll be back soon!" Cody yelled, then went off with Sumbarinemon.

            "Sumbarinemon, we've been searching for nearly an hour! " Cody complained.

            "Ah, I can't take this anymore!" Sumbarinemon raged.

            With that, he began to launch torpedoes all around the ocean.

            "Sumbarinemon, stop! You might hurt someone!"

            "Like there's anyone to hurt! This place is empty!" Sumbarinemon argued.

            Amazingly, the missile struck a giant rock, blowing it to pieces. Behind the rock was a clear door. Cody looked up. The door was actually on the rock which supported the land that Davis and the others were standing on. He looked back at the clear door and noticed shapes squirming behind it. Cody gulped.

            Oh boy.

            Finally that chapter is over with! I also managed to finish two chapters in the break! Now that's a relief! If only I could finish with that big project I have coming up… Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I'll be waiting for a decent amount of reviews to motivate me to post up the next chapter. Will Dragomon successfully absorb Kari's power, or will Davis and his power of Miracles stop him in his tracks? Everything will be revealed in the next and final chapter… By the way, I have changed my e-mail to yagaminoue@yahoo.com due to setbacks with my last account. 


	8. Vengeance

Disclaimer: 

I do not own Digimon.

Author's Note: Last time, the digidestined defeated the Six Wanderers of Darkness. Later, Cody and Sumbarinemon discovered the entrance to Dragomon's fortress. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then please read the previous chapter(s). It is time for the final confrontation with Dragomon himself! The digidestined will be faced with the toughest challenge of their lives. Sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter up. I've been working on a lot of newer stories which I hope to put up in the near future. Read on!

TRUE COLORS

Chapter Eight: Vengeance

By: UNKNOWN

            The rocks crumbled and shook as the entire wall of the cliff fell apart. Shockwaves blasted through the water and threatened to slam Cody and Sumbarinemon against the ocean floor.

            "Sumbarinemon, watch out!" Cody cried.

            Sumbarinemon struggled against the current, then swerved just in time to avoid being flattened by a rock.

            Cody glanced up through Sumbarinemon's clear dome to see that the yellow door was still shut, and the figures behind it squirmed even more wildly. Cody focused once more on the black figures behind the windows, then urged Sumbarinemon to surface.

            "Cody's been gone quite a while." Yolei muttered.

            "Actually, he's only been gone for seven minutes."

            "Whatever…I hope he's okay."

            Yolei looked over to Davis, who had regained consciousness a few minutes after Cody departed. He stood isolated from the rest of the digidestined, hands stuffed into his pocket and brown eyes empty. 

            A few feet from the coast, a bubble of water erupted. Sumbarinemon broke free from the water pressure and swam towards the awaiting digidestined. Everyone crowded around him.

            "Dragomon's fortress is right under us. It was hidden behind a giant rock, but Sumbarinemon blew it up."

            "Now the question is…how do we get in?" 

            Cody rubbed his chin. "Maybe Digmon could drill a hole from here down into the ceiling of Dragomon's fortress.:

            Ken shrugged. "It's worth a try."

            He shook his hair out of his eyes as he watched Sumbarinemon de-digivolve into Armadillomon, then to Digmon. Digmon ran over to where T.K. stood and rammed his drill-like hands into the sand. Dirt and rocks sprayed everywhere as Digmon dug deeper and deeper. 

            "I think Paildramon could help," Ken offered. 

            Everyone turned to Davis and a sleeping Veemon, who was lying on a nearby rock. Davis turned to look at them, with his dark solemn eyes. Something had happened to him when he unleashed miracles, probably more than they had seen. Veemon woke up and found everyone staring at him. Ken held out his digivice and Veemon received the cue. Davis slipped his D-3 out of his pocket and it shimmered a bright blue.

            Wormmon and Veemon merged together to form Paildramon, who immediately ran over to Digmon to start digging.

            T.K. slapped his forehead. "This is going to take forever!"

            Yolei growled. "Well, it's our only chance to get in so we might as well take it!"

            Soon, the only sounds of life were the sounds of Digmon and Paildramon's claws digging furiously into the dirt.

            Kari looked down at her hands. She was tired. Dragomon was cooped up in his own room. _Probably plotting on how to absorb me…_ Kari sighed. She hopped off the table and began to pace around the room. _Why was I given the crest of light? I never asked for it…now look how much trouble it's causing me. I wish…I wish that I never became a digidestined._

The wall glittered, and Kari leapt back. Dragomon's dark face rammed through first, then grabbed Kari by the arm and out of the room.

            Kari struggled furiously to break free. "What are you doing!?"

            Dragomon snarled, showing rows of sharp teeth. "What do you think?"

            Kari attempted to call on her innate ability but she felt vague and worn out- possibly because of the energy she had sent to Gatomon. _She's probably gone now…like the others._

            Dragomon looked down at her. He knew that Death, Chaos, Famine, Apocalypse, Terror, and Hated had been destroyed. His psychic link to their minds was disrupted. _Who would have the power to do such a thing? The Six Wanderers of Darkness were indestructible…in the Old Ages. _He carefully thought over the digidestined. Dragomon knew Ken, but Ken was already corrupt by the Dark Spores, Light powers would not be able to infuse within him. 

            Kari was held fast between Dragomon's arms and his hard chest. Dragomon had stopped talking, and it seemed like he was in great thought. He looked down at her, to see her puzzled face. He growled menacingly, then averted her gaze.

            _If I can tap into the memories stored in my mind by the Six Wanderers, then perhaps I will be able to take a look at this digidestined. _Without warning, he shoved Kari into another room, but this time leaving a gate to bar Kari in. He walked off to concentrate in privacy.

==*FLASHBACK*==

   (Apocalypse's POV)

            Rain clouded my vision but I was still able to make out the battle. One of the children had undergone some form of transformation. He had destroyed Hatred and Chaos. I did not bother to help them; the weakest in our group deserve no help. I watched as Terror attempted to use his agility to catch the child off guard. Unfortunately, he was faster and decapitated Terror. Terror's cloaked head rolled by my feet. I kicked it away and felt blood dampen my dry robes. The rain was slowly stopping and the fog was lifting. I could make out the child's face. His eyes were full of anger and hate. It was hate that fueled him, but also something else. Hate could not have possibly supplied him with enough energy to continue firing. I leapt away from his golden fire moments before it hit me. I knew at that moment that for the first time, we had lost. This child held something we didn't. He was fighting for a cause and wouldn't give up. We fought for a motive unknown; only Dragomon possessed that information. 

            He wanted us to eliminate these children. It seemed that we have failed. In a desperate action to at least destroy the boy, I sucked the energies out of Famine and Death. It filled me with the energies I needed. I felt confident that I could eradicate the child. I struck him twice, but he survived. He blew a hole in my stomach…I felt pain spread throughout my entire body. But I wouldn't give up; not for any cause. I created a net of fire and wrapped it around him. He broke it and shoved his hand into my hood. The pain! Oh, the pain! Fire was racing down my body and swarming around my robes, searing my tough hide. At that moment, I knew that my time had come. Hopefully, Dragomon remembers about the outcast of our group. If Dragomon is to survive, he must consider releasing-

==*END FLASHBACK*==

            Dragomon snapped out of his trance. _The outcast! _But then his excitement stilled. The outcast was a very dangerous digimon who was not good or evil, but would attack anyone in range. Apparently, he had attacked a fellow Wanderer and was forced to leave. _Rumor had it that he was almost able to stem off five Wanderers, but was defeated when Apocalypse joined the fight. _Dragomon shook his flat face. It was dangerous- could he handle it? Dragomon narrowed his eyes as he tried to remember the location of the seventh Wanderer, Anguish. 

            "Make sure that she does not escape," he ordered to two dragon-like digimon. 

            "How long will this take?" Yolei groaned.

            Dragomon paused. "It'll take longer if you keep distracting me!"

            Paildramon looked up. "Actually, I think we're pretty close. This rock is starting to get really hard."

            "Let me feel!" Yolei said.

            "No Yolei, don't! You don't know how much weight this thing supports!" Digmon warned.

            Cody jumped after Yolei and tried to grab her leg, but in vain. Ken slapped his forehead. Davis didn't even look up. Paildramon caught Yolei in midair, but unfortunately, the force of her speed caused Paildramon to lose his balance and crash onto the bottom of the hole.

            Paildramon let Yolei off, then began to scream.

            "Cody! Ken! Digmon!" he yelled.

            The digidestined's heads protruded from the cliffs of the pit. Even Davis popped in for a look.

            "What's wrong?" Ken asked.

            Suddenly, the bottom cracked. A giant gash appeared in the floor, then widened as smaller cracks joined with it. The rocks crumbled and Paildramon and Yolei dropped through it.

            "Digmon! Take us down!" Cody ordered.

            Everybody climbed aboard Digimon and Acquilamon, who had just digivolved. Slowly, they made their way to the bottom of the pit. With a thud, Digmon crashed into the rock floor. Shockwaves rumbled through the area and the digidestined on his back toppled off like dominoes. Davis stood up. Life had returned to his eyes; he was back to normal.

            "Kari's near. I can feel it." Davis stated.

            The group stared at him until he walked off in another direction. Cody, Ken, and Yolei ran after him. T.K. looked around at the area they were currently in. _So this is Dragomon's fortress? Looks kind of neat. _T.K. readjusted his hat, then ran off with Patamon to join the others. 

            Davis weaved in and out of the catacombs of the fortress. The fortress walls were dank and dull. It was dark and a strange stench filled the air. The remainder of the digidestined struggled to keep up with Davis. 

            "Davis! Do you even know where we are going?" Ken shouted.

            Davis turned. "I don't know! All I know is that I'm going the right way!"

            "The right way is…?"

            Davis began to run now, clearly frustrated. "I don't know all right? I'm just going where my instincts are telling me to!"

            Dragomon walked through the wet mud as he descended the stairs of his basement. _With Anguish by my side, there's no way that the child will be able to defeat me. But first I have to find him. _As Dragomon reached the bottom of the stairs, he looked around and saw seven doors. He crossed his powerful arms. _Could these doors lead to rooms that each belong to one Wanderer? _He took a deep breath and opened the first door. 

            Inside, there was almost nothing. All that was there was a table and an old chair. Dragomon walked over and examined the desk. _These must be hundreds, if not thousands of years old! _He reached out to touch the chair when it collapsed right before him. He narrowed his dark eyes and then left the room. 

            The next door contained the remains of a dead digimon. Apparently, this digimon had not deleted correctly so another part of it still lived on. Dragomon stooped down to get a closer look at it. It looked like mutilated body stuffed into a robe. Dragomon wheeled around. _Anguish must be around here. This must be its body before it changed itself to another form. _

            Dragomon slowly approached the door. With one hand, he slowly gathered dark energy which focused into a black fireball. In one swift move, he yanked open the door and ran out with his attacking hand outstretched. When he reached the narrow corridor, he saw nothing. But his senses were trained for survival in the Dark Ocean, and were especially honed on smelling. He sniffed the air and attempted to determine if anyone had recently entered. 

            Something bothered him in the back of his mind. His instincts told him to run, but there was nothing to run from. His nose finally detected a faint smell of something that had just crossed this path. He frowned. _Anyone who could disguise their tracks as well as this person could-_ Dragomon stopped. He had just heard a barely audible scratch on these rough walls. He looked around but even with his clear vision, he could not spot anything. Finally, in exasperation, he placed both of his arms over his head and cursed at the ceiling. Saliva dripped onto his forehead and slowly rolled down his face.

            Anguish fell from the ceiling and landed on the floor with barely a thud. Dragomon surveyed Anguish, who looked no different than the rest of the Wanderers. Anguish's eyes were red instead of yellow, and he had a broader frame than Apocalypse did. Upon his back bore a strange sort of stick, and his thick strong fingers were covered with black gloves. Dragomon secretly began to focus energy again, in case Anguish showed hostility. Currently, Anguish was just staring at him with its deep crimson eyes.

            "Anguish," Dragomon whispered.

            Anguish jerked. It seemed surprised that Dragomon knew its name. Dragomon grinned to himself. He thought he had the upper hand in this deal.

            "I was wondering-" 

            Faster than even Dragomon's eyes could follow, Anguish whipped out his stick, melted it into pure energy, and slammed it against Dragomon's chest. Dragomon dropped like a rock. 

            "Kari!"

            Kari stood up. Was it really Davis's voice- or had insanity finally taken over her? Without thinking, she yelled back. "Davis!"

            "Kari!" 

            Kari felt a surge of warmth as Davis's voice became louder and clearer. The other footsteps and heavy breathing proved that he wasn't alone. 

            "Where are you?" Davis yelled.

            T.K. and Cody's muffled voices could be heard through the wall, while Yolei and Ken quarreled about something.

            "I'm behind this…black gate. Err…it looks kind of like a door, but it's a square."

            The voices outside stopped. "There are two black doors, but which one are you in?"

            "I'm pretty sure Dragomon has guards around mine."

            "We already tossed them."

            "Umm…I'll try to use my powers, so move away from the gates!" she yelled.

            As soon as the digidestined heard this, they all immediately jumped back. Soon enough, a loud clang was heard on the right gate, but it did not open. 

            "I can't get it to budge!" Kari shouted.

            Davis's brows furrowed with fury. "That Dragomon…I'll get you out!" 

            Focusing like the last time he did, he felt the warmth of Miracles flow from within his heart and course throughout his veins. Miracles was now in every part of his body, pulsing with energy and giving Davis strength. 

            "Get out of the way Kari!" Yolei warned.

            From Davis's hands erupted a golden fire, twisting and spinning endlessly. Sparks flew and the heat seared the gate. The heat filled the room and in no time, everybody was beginning to sweat. 

            "Stop…Davis…" T.K. groaned, fanning the group with his hat.

            "Not until she's free!" he growled.

            With renewed rage, he concentrated his attack one last time, and this time, the gate could not handle it. The fire ripped through the gate and chunks of it went flying. Pieces of it were still glowing yellow and smoke filled the air. Davis withdrew Miracles and ran to the smoke.

            "Kari?" he choked.

            A familiar shadow was seen through the smoke, and when it emerged, the recognizable face of Kari was seen. The smoke cleared and the girl who had survived in Dragomon's base for an unknown amount of time emerged. The group let loose a sigh of relief as Gatomon ran to Kari and leapt into her arms. Kari thanked the entire group, then stood up. She dropped Gatomon lightly onto the floor and walked over to Davis.

            Davis gulped. _What is she doing? _Kari looked up at the boy who had saved her life an uncountable number of times, and yet she had never really appreciated it- until today.

            "Davis…you've been with me since the beginning of this journey, from the Digital World to the Dark Ocean. No matter what, you've always tried your hardest to avert me from danger. You're my friend Davis. I know that you'd never give up on me as I would never give up on you."

            Kari paused to survey Davis's reaction. His face was blank as he stared back at her. The group was silent. Kari bit her lip. _Perhaps he'll need a little motivation…_

Davis almost jumped when Kari moved a step closer. However, he kept still and waited to see what Kari would do. She placed her slender gloved arms around his neck as Davis jerked back in surprise. The digidestined stared. Davis followed with the embrace by putting his arms around her thin waist. He could feel her press against his body; his stomach was growling for food, but he did not care right now. Then, she cupped his chin with one hand and pulled his head forward. Davis felt Kari's soft lips press against his. He wasn't exactly expecting this. Their noses touched and it was all over in a matter of seconds.

            Davis and the digidestined stared at her. Her sweet scent still lingered around Davis though.

            "You'll get the rest when we get back," she said, smiling.

            Davis stayed silent for a few seconds, then smiled back. 

            "It's about time," Yolei muttered.

            "Come on, let's get Dragomon!" Gatomon suggested.

            Gatomon lead the way out, followed by the rest of the digidestined.

            Soon enough, they reached a fork in the castle doors, one going left and the other right. The digidestined paused and began to survey the area.

            "Well…left or right guys?" Cody asked.

            "This reminds me of a certain time not too long ago," Davis whispered.

            Kari grinned. "I remember."

            "We should split up," Yolei said.

            The group began to divide themselves up. Eventually, it ended up with Davis, Yolei, and Cody in one group. Ken, T.K., and Kari went the other way. The digimon went along with their respective partners.

            "Izzy, what's taking them so long?" Tai asked.

            "I don't know. It was supposed to start out as a simple picnic, but who knows where they are now."

            Tai crossed his arms and began to think. "Didn't someone say they were in the Dark Ocean?"

            Izzy returned to his laptop. "I'll see if I can hack into the digital systems and change some of the coding…"

            Izzy began to open screens and type furiously. Matt appeared from behind the trees. 

            "Well, there doesn't appear to be any edible berries around here," Matt remarked.

            Tai took a seat on the bench. "Anyways, they'd better get back soon or there's no way we can get them out of this mess."

            Matt looked at his watch. His blonde hair was uncombed and stuck out like a porcupine's quills. "My dad will pick us up in another day. That's still a pretty long time in the Digital World."

            Sora climbed out of the tent, apparently aroused from sleep. "Then maybe we should start thinking of excuses, in case you know?"

            "I got it!" Izzy cried.

            Tai and Matt practically leapt onto the poor Izzy, who was struggling with the weight of his massive friends.

            "What'd you find?"

            Izzy threw off Tai and Matt's arms, then pointed to his screen.

            "I've been studying the program of the Digital World. I remember at that factory place where we first met Andromon, I accidentally entered a room filled with strange symbols. When I changed one, it was able to shut the power off in the factory."

            "…So?"

            "Well, by looking at this, the Digital World is just a repeating amount of data. There's one for trees, grass, mountains, weather, and all that other kind of stuff."

            "You mean it's like a video game?"

            "Yeah. That's probably why Ken thought that the Digital World was just a game when he was the Digimon Emperor."

            Matt took a brief look at the glowing screen. "These all look the same- except for a different symbol here and there."

            Izzy sighed. He wasn't used to explaining technology with people who never even touched a computer before.

            "I just said that. Anyways, you see that symbol? It kind of looks like a spiral thingy."

            Tai pointed at the screen. "I see it."

            "You smudged my screen!" Izzy yelled.

            Sora walked over to the arguing trio. "What's going on here?"

            Izzy grunted. He took a tissue out of his pocket and wiped the screen. "As I was saying, the portal to the Dark Ocean is just like a portal to the Digital World. But as you can see, there's not another symbol like it for the rest of the program. I'm pretty confident there isn't because it's the only one I've encountered while scrolling for about ten minutes."

            "So what does all this mean?" Tai asked.

            "I don't know. I'm going to try to decode this symbol thing."

            Izzy clicked on the symbol and an enlarged version of it appeared in a separate window. Izzy began to twirl it around and tug it here and there. Finally, Izzy erased one part of the line and his screen went blank.

            "What the hell?" he shouted.

            "What's wrong?" Sora asked.

            "My computer's been overloaded by the program."

            The computer began to smoke and unbeknownst to Izzy and Sora, caught fire.

            "Izzy…!" Sora warned.

            Izzy turned to see fire leap out and get onto his coat. "Fire!" he yelled.

            Tai and Matt ran out with buckets of water. "We got it!"

            They quickly doused the burning laptop with water. Steam rose from the wrecked computer, then melted into a pile of goop. 

            "Well, I guess we can't view what they're doing after all."

            Kari and T.K. kept close to Ken as they walked through the dark corridor. They had seen nothing yet and there was no source of light around. Water dripped through holes in the pipes and the shuffling of their feet echoed throughout the empty hall. 

            "Sure is cold in here." T.K. said, rubbing his arms.

            Ken shrugged. "We'll be out soon. I can see the ending of this hall."

            They walked and walked in a curve that swerved left and right until the finally reached the end. Bright light caused them all to squint. Davis, Cody, and Yolei were standing next to them.

            "Davis? How'd you get here?" Ken asked.

            Davis shrugged. "I think these tunnels are connected."

            "Well, there's no sign of Dragomon." Yolei declared.

            Suddenly, the wall to the left of the chamber burst open. Rocks went flying and dust rose from the impact. Dragomon emerged from the smoke, snarling. Kari stared at him. This wasn't the same Dragomon that had imprisoned her. Something had happened to him.

            "It's time!" Davis yelled.

            Paildramon, Silphymon, and Shakuamon both landed in their fighting stances, ready for action.

            Dragomon turned on them and growled. Fire escaped his open jaws. 

            "Desperado blaster!"

            "Static force!"

            "Justice beam!"

            The combined power of the attacks blew Dragomon back through the wall in which he came from. A loud thud was heard, then Dragomon returned for more. With one hand, he lifted Paildramon and tossed his against the giant pillar in the center of the room. The pillar collapsed and the ceiling creaked. Shakuamon and Silphymon began to pound on Dragomon with their relentless assaults, but Dragomon seemed unaffected. He let loose a roar of anger, then charged. Silphymon and Shakuamon went flying and crashed into the opposite wall. Paildramon stood up and was immediately smacked down by Dragomon.

            Dragomon gathered a fireball in his hand and fired it at the crumpled forms of Silphymon and Shakuamon. Silphymon blew apart and de-digivolved into Poyomon and Salamon. They lied on the floor helplessly.

            Shakuamon regained consciousness right before the fireball swarmed around him. He opened the chamber in his stomach and sucked most of the attack in. He released it as smoke that filled the area. Shakuamon used this distraction to hop away. Paildramon groaned miserably on the floor. Dragomon was in full rage now. His spiked tail flew about and crashed into several other pillars. Cracks filled the rusted walls and the ground shook with every move. Shakuamon shot his bombs and they exploded on Dragomon's face. Dragomon snorted out fire which ravaged and ruined Shakuamon's armor. Shakuamon fell and crashed into the floor. Paildramon was slammed against the giant chair-like structure in the middle and de-digivolved. Shakuamon de-digivolved as well.

            Davis knew that he would have to use his powers if they wanted to stand a chance against him. He was about to ask Kari to join him when he spotted a pair of red eyes in the gloom. It came from the area which Dragomon had crashed through. Without telling the others, he carefully snuck over to it. What he saw terrified him. At about seven feet tall and wearing black robes, Anguish was a frightening sight. Its hands were moving about in a spell manner and were directed at Dragomon.

            Davis looked at Anguish, then tried to figure out what Anguish was doing. Anguish pushed his hands forward and Dragomon ran towards the rest of the digidestined. They scattered like ants and picked up the in-training digimon as they found them. Davis reached a simple conclusion. _This guy must be controlling Dragomon! Maybe if I can knock it over, he'll lose control of him! Strange. He looks like a Wanderer. _Davis began to concentrate and gathered Miracles within him. With one shot, his golden fire swarmed around the cloaked figure and toppled him over.

            At that moment, Dragomon stood up straight. _What am I doing? _He stared at his own hands, then recalled the events that had happened before. _…Anguish! He ambushed me with his attack! _Dragomon turned. His vision easily saw through the smoke and caught Anguish standing in the far corner of the room. Anguish tried to control Dragomon again, but now that Dragomon was expecting it, there was no effect. 

            "Anguish! You will pay!" Dragomon growled.

            Anguish dropped its hands, then took a step back. Davis rolled over to the rest of the digidestined, watching the battle.

            Anguish removed his stick from his back and held it in front of him like a shield. Dragomon's shoulders hunched together as he braced himself for an attack. Anguish's stick liquefied into radiant violet energy, then Anguish struck. The stick smacked Dragomon's arm, but he shook it off easily. One clawed hand grabbed Anguish by the hood and began to squeeze. Anguish, with surprising strength, snapped Dragomon's wrist, then tossed him a few feet away. Dragomon roared in pain as he slid on the floor. He stood up wobbly as Anguish approached him. He lifted one spiked arm at let loose a swarm of needles. They bounced off Anguish like they were made of rubber. Anguish chopped Dragomon's neck area with his hand, then turned towards the digidestined. It did not feel that Dragomon was a threat. 

            "We can take it," Davis said.

            Kari looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

            Davis glanced back down at her with his cold eyes. "Together- our powers can take this guy down."

            Kari closed her eyes. _That's just like Davis. Even in the face of danger he always believes in the group. He always believes that we can work together to make impossible things possible. But…I wish that I had the same courage he had. _

"I can't Davis."

            Davis looked shocked. "Why not?"

            Kari grimaced. "I wish I could be as brave as you Davis, but I just…can't…"

            Davis sighed. "I see what you mean."

            He looked behind her to see the rest of the digidestined, huddled in one spot. With renewed strength, he turned back to face Anguish. "Stay back with the others Kari."

            Kari slowly walked back while watching Davis play the role of hero.

            Anguish slowly approached Davis, its footsteps barely audible. Dragomon was knocked out- he showed no signs of life. Miracles still coursed through Davis, so he no longer needed to focus. _Just one or two more fights, _he said to himself, _then we're out of here. _Anguish took the first move. In a single second, he landed a blow on Davis's stomach and another to his forehead. Davis fell down to one knee, doubling over. 

            Davis coughed out blood. Anguish was going through Miracles like it was made of paper. Anguish took another blow, but this time Davis managed to roll away. Anguish stooped down to pick Davis up, then elbowed him in the chest, causing him to crash into one of the "windows" in the chamber. Luckily, the window held so water was not let through. Davis lunged at Anguish with one blazing fist. Anguish caught the hand and flipped Davis over, slamming him onto his back. Davis's head was spinning now. He was seeing double. Anguish leaned over, thinking that Davis was dead. 

            Using this to his advantage, Davis struck his hand out at Anguish's hood right when its face was a few inches away from his. Golden fire erupted from his fingertips and blazed all about Anguish's robes. Anguish rolled in pain and agony. Finally, it ripped apart its cloak, revealing its true form. The digidestined stared at the bare form of Anguish.

            Anguish's figure looked no different than an average human's. It was at least seven feet tall and muscles bulged out everywhere. Wire and cords were strapped from its back to its temples and its knees carried some sort of mechanical devices. On his chest bore a metal plate, with a red circle beeping in the center. Its bright red eyes studied at how the children would react.

            Davis shook his head as he stood up. Pieces of Anguish's robes burned in the background. Dragomon's soft growls were the only sounds heard. Anguish grinned- or what seemed like a grin- to reveal a mouth split at about one fourths of the way down his face. The mouth was filled with blood red teeth and a dark purple tongue was spotted inside. 

            "What brings you…children…here?"

            Davis felt a shiver go up his spine. Anguish was speaking in a low guttural tone. It was surprising that it could even speak at all. He looked back at the digidestined to see them shaking their heads. It seemed that they did not want Davis to converse with him.

            When Davis turned, Anguish moved a step forward. Davis lifted one hand in warning. Anguish did not take the hand as a threat as he moved closer again. The red circle was still beeping and a strange light was circling around it. Anguish brought up his knee and the fight continued. Blood spurted from the puncture in Davis's chin as he felt himself drop a few feet away. Davis couldn't hold himself together. Anguish was slowly approaching him.

            Davis turned his head to see his friends one last time. Yolei and Cody looked horrified. Ken and T.K. looked like they were urging them on. Where was Kari…? A bright flash of white clouded Davis's vision as a beam traveled from somewhere next to him to Anguish's chest. Anguish yelled in pain and surprise as he struggled to throw off the powerful beam. Davis felt the light reenergize him. Blood began to flow again and he slowly regained his senses. He could see the angelic form of Kari stand over him. She looked at him with her shy eyes and dazzling smile. Davis grinned back.

            "Need some help?" Davis asked.

            "I'd love some," Kari replied.

            Davis crawled back to his feet and joined Kari in blasting Anguish. Miracles shot out of his fingertips like it never had before and blew a hole in Anguish's shoulder. Dark blue blood gushed out like a waterfall as Anguish collapsed. Anguish was still holding back both attacks though, as they didn't seem able to penetrate the metal plate strapped to his chest. Kari devised a plan.

            "Davis. Place your hands over mine."

            Davis did so without questioning her. Their attack had stopped and a smoking Anguish was beginning to stand. 

            Now Kari had Davis's hands sandwiched between hers. "Fire!" she shouted, feeling much like an army commander.

            White light and golden light swarmed out of their joined hands and intertwined together. They spiraled and met at a specific rendezvous point in the center. The beam became a bright yellow as the connected fireball was glowing multiple colors in a magnificent aurora. Anguish held its arms before his head and turned away from the light. The beam blasted through him easily. The top half of Anguish fell forward as his bottom half was pushed towards the ceiling. Blood covered the area as it began to drip out of Anguish's body in copious amounts.

            Anguish's bottom half dealt the final blow to the fortress. The final pillar was destroyed from the impact by its knee blades. The pillar fell and crashed onto the floor, breaking into millions of pieces. 

            "Let's go!" Ken yelled sharply.

            The whole place was rumbling now. Rocks the size of cars came crashing down. Craters were blown into the hard stone floor.

            "But Dragomon…" Kari began.

            "There's no time for him!" Davis barked. He hurried Kari towards the right tunnel.

            Dragomon had awoken. He was cursing and his back had emitted a strong fire which pretty much broke all the rocks that attempted to crush him.

            "Dragomon, get yourself out!" Kari yelled.

            "Gee whiz, he almost killed you and you still want him to live?"

            "Still…I don't want to see any digimon die."

            Davis watched from the safety of under the corridor roof to see Dragomon scrambling for the broken wall he had come through. A giant brick dropped on him right before he reached the exit. His great frame tried to hold the brick but not even his muscled body could lift it. The brick fell with a sickening crunch. Davis turned away and began to run.    

            The entire fortress was collapsing now, as even the catacombs were breaking. The digidestined weaved through them and avoided all the falling structures. Davis was the last one out, as he had stayed to watch the demise of Dragomon. 

            "Faster Davis!" Cody shouted. 

            They were all aboard Acquilamon, Stingmon, Nefertimon, or Pegasusmon. They were shouting at Davis to hurry. Veemon seemed to be throwing a tantrum. Davis tripped over a crack in the floor and fell to the floor. The group was nervous and scared. 

            "Davis!"

            The voices in Davis's head were unclear and fuzzy. He couldn't hear too well. He lifted one arm lazily and waited for his doom to come. But before it could happen, a strong hand reached down and yanked him up. The last words he head were "Let's go!"

            Davis jumped up. _What a nightmare! _He looked around him to see that he was in his bed at home. It was morning and crows were cawing noisily outside. He rubbed his head. _Did all that really happen? _He walked outside his room and drank the carton of milk, then ran to his room when he heard his D-Terminal beep. It ordered him to go to the nearby park and not surprisingly, it was from Yolei. 

            Davis busted open his apartment door, then jogged out to the park. There, he found Ken, Yolei, and Cody waiting for him.

            "What's the big party for?" he asked, seeing piles of food stocked before him.

            T.K. appeared from the bushes. "You don't remember anything from yesterday?"

            "Oh. Okay. So I guess that it wasn't a dream."

            The group stared at him. "That's all you're going to say? You nearly died if it weren't for T.K. Luckily, he pulled you up before that rock crushed you to death."

            Davis turned to T.K. and grinned. "I owe you big time, pal."

            "Don't mention it."

            Davis returned to the food. "So how did we get back?"

            Cody shrugged. "Izzy, Matt, Sora, and Tai were all waiting at the campsite. Izzy's computer was broken but he managed to get one from Matt's father and program the Digital Gate on there."

            Tai, Matt, Sora, Izzy, and Joe joined the party or picnic. Davis still couldn't understand what it was. "Let's dig in!" Tai yelled, seeing the food. Unfortunately, Mimi was still in America, but everyone knew that she was having a good time over there- just as long as she could go shopping.

            The digidestined crowded around the food and began to devour it. Finally, Davis noticed that Kari was missing.

            "Where's Kari?" he asked, mouth full.

            The digidestined paused. 

            Davis's vision was suddenly blinded by two objects covering his eyes. "Help me!" he cried.

            "Guess who?" asked a familiar feminine voice.

            "Oh," Davis said, swallowing his food. "Hey Kari."

            Davis turned and was met by a deep kiss. Tai was halfway out of his sitting stance when Matt and Izzy forced him back down.

            Their lips touched and this time, it was much longer than the first. They had their arms wrapped around each other and did not seem to want to let go. After it ended, Davis brushed a loose strand of Kari's hair off her forehead.

            "What was that for?" Davis asked, his heart beating quickly from excitement.

            Kari beamed at him, with a smile he had not seen for a long time. "I told you that you'd get the rest when we got back from the Dark Ocean."

            "But how did you guys get out?"

            Izzy answered this question, as everyone was looking at him. "Well, Dragomon was the Dark Master form of the Dark Ocean. When he was destroyed, there was no longer a controller for that area. As with Metalseadramon, Machinedramon, and Puppetmon, their areas were deleted when they were destroyed. In the collapsing of the Dark Ocean, a portal opened up since the Dark Ocean is another branch off the Digital World."            

            Everybody paused to think about Izzy's theory, then returned to eating their lunch.

            Kari and Davis sat a little further from the group.

            "Kari…I thought that you and T.K…"

            Kari put a finger on his lips. "It doesn't matter. We agreed that love wasn't the right path for both of us and that we should go our separate ways. He's yet to find someone, but I'm sure he will in no time. As for me…well, he's sitting right in front of me."

            Davis stared into Kari's soft brown eyes that were filled with joy and happiness. She was back to her usual self, as was Davis. Davis grinned as he placed one arm about her shoulders, allowing her to place her head on his arm. They lied back on the soft green grass, listening to the uproars of the digidestined group and looking up at the expansive clear blue skies- together.

            Can you believe it? I have finished this story! A picnic that started out in the Digital World ended up as a huge adventure in the Dark Ocean. Though my original ending was a lot better, I felt that this one would suit the new plot. By the way, if any one cared, the answers to the chapter six question were: Ken, Yolei, Cody, and T.K.! This is especially aimed at Anime-05, who sadly mixed two up. Thanks to her, Anthony, Miracles, Water Mist, and all you other reviewers for supporting this story all the way. Sadly, this story never acquired the fame that I was hoping it would but hey- I think it's still a great story! So if you have the time, feel free to spread this story to all your friends and so on… I'm getting lazier and lazier. Don't forget to review this story before you exit! Well, until my next story…


End file.
